Winds of Change
by Sol Hiryu
Summary: When Ike finds that his newly found status as a hero is making him miserable, he seeks to rectify it. On a whim, he ends up traveling to Hatari, where he meets up with a friend he made a promise to during the war. Ike/Volug, smut.
1. I: Arcana XIII: Death

**Author's Note:** Ah, and here I am posting this here. I've been meaning to for a while, I just had to wait until a lot of things were settled.

As you can probably guess, this is another crack pairing fic. It's a lot longer than my previous one, which astonished me; there were certainly a lot of things I wanted to do with this, and I just had to stop at a certain point or else I would have gone insane.

The thought of Ike/Volug intrigues me, just as much as Ike/Zelgius does. While it's considerably harder to make, considering they really don't have a connection to each other, other than the whole language thing, it's a lot more fulfilling when writing it out, I find. I'm very satisfied with how the whole fic came out, and I hope you all enjoy it too.

**Unvoiced Affection** by _Ariaeris_ served as the initial and partial inspiration for this fic. I very heartily recommend you go read it, as it's quite a good read. As for everything else, the fic just seemed to grow into a life of its own, and there are too many inspirations to list them all.

For this fic, I'm only working off one fairly big assumption in that Soren and Stefan had an A support at the end of Path of Radiance, and got one in Radiant Dawn as well. Other than that, everything else is fairly strict to canon.

Enjoy!

* * *

Traveling the world wasn't something he had ever considered seriously doing before. Sure, there had been a passing wanderlust from time to time, but he had never given thought to actually going back to traveling around the continent. All he had wanted was to make sure everything was peaceful before settling back into his old lifestyle as a mercenary. At least, that had been the plan.

And just like all plans, it was subject to change.

While he had known ahead of time he was going to be revered as a hero throughout the continent after the conflict with Ashera, he had severely underestimated the reaction. Many locals near his group's fort came by daily to catch a glimpse him, or—if they were lucky—talk with him. Stories about him and the Greil Mercenaries had spread like wildfire throughout the continent; about how he had led his small group through two wars and managed to turn bleak battles into complete victories.

Yet oddly enough, work was at an all-time low after the war. Bandits in the area were nowhere near foolish enough to try their hand against the legendary hero and his elite mercenaries. Those that _were_ quickly found themselves dead. The continued peace, while a blessing to everyone, didn't really make life easier for the mercenaries.

If it were only the lack of work, however, he would have been fine. They had been stuck doing low-paying jobs before; they'd find some way to get by. However, the company would be the least of his problems in the following weeks; in fact, they would seem like a trifle compared to what he was dealing with.

Many travelers wanted to meet the Greil Mercenaries, more specifically their commander. People from Crimea, Gallia, Begnion and even Daein all wished earnestly to see him. It got so overwhelming at times that he would temporarily move their base of operations elsewhere so they could take a breather. It would only work for a while until they were inevitably found, but the respite was nice while it lasted.

But that wasn't even the beginning. Every so often, someone would challenge him to a duel. Some of them wanted him to teach them the way of the sword, to teach them to be strong like him. Some of them wanted to see how they fared in a battle against him, just for the sake of pride. Others would try outright just to kill him, even though they knew they stood no chance. He had emphatically refused each request, and in the event of the final scenario, ended the fight before it could begin.

And then came the missives from the nobles. Time and time again, they received offers—jobs with lucrative pay, often as a personal armed force for the lord in question. The surprise was not in knowing that the Greil Mercenaries were being offered employment as a personal army; the surprise was in knowing how many nobles expected them to be _their_ army.

All of it had created a large amount of stress within the company. Shinon, disgusted with this new "undeserved praise," had threatened to leave the Greil Mercenaries once more. It was only through Gatrie's intervention, coupled with alcohol, that got the sniper to stay. However, they all knew that the company wouldn't be able to continue like this if it kept getting hounded by citizens.

Thankfully, it had all tapered off after a few weeks, and things had settled into a relative peace. The mercenaries were starting to get steady work again, and the amount of people wanting to see him had dwindled. Indeed, life was almost pleasant again; it would have been wholly pleasant had the memories of the people's reverence not remained.

And so, he had started to try and figure out what to do. He thought that he could have settled back into his old life, but that had proved impossible. Too many people wanted too many things from him, and he couldn't stand it. No, there had to be a better way to deal with it.

That was why he had consulted with his best friend. That was when things started to change for him.

He was Ike, the Savior of Tellius, and the Hero of the Blue Flames.

* * *

"And that's why you want to get away, correct?"

Ike nodded. "You should know me better than anyone, Soren," he replied, settling back in his chair. Soren gave him a small smile, moving some parchments from his table to the bookshelf. "I want to say that I can stick it out, but...you've seen it. It's slowly driving me up the wall. Hell, Shinon's not taunting me as much because he thinks I'll snap or something."

"And I daresay that it would be an amusing thing to see him beat into a pulp, in my opinion," Soren said dryly. "Regardless, everybody here has been concerned for you. While they might not like all the attention themselves, they've seen that constant exposure for you has been wearing you down. I don't think anyone would blame you if you took a break."

Ike chuckled. "As always, you know my mind," he sighed. "You're absolutely right. I want to get away from all of...well, all of it," he exclaimed with a gesture of his hand, unable to sum up his troubles in one word. "Wasn't the end of the war supposed to be peaceful for all of us?"

"Yes, but the conclusion of most wars don't end with someone slaying a delusional goddess," Soren pointed out, returning to his desk. "I can understand their reasoning for wanting to meet you, Ike. It's for a foolish reason,but I can understand why they would do it."

The blue-haired man rolled his eyes. "That makes me feel so much better. It really does," he replied sarcastically. "But I've had it up to here with all of it. It isn't working out."

"What isn't working out?" the sage questioned, glancing at the cover of his book.

Ike was silent for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts so he could convey what he was feeling. "Everything," he finally murmured, getting Soren to look up in slight surprise. "The mercenaries. Living like this. Just...everything. You know what I'm talking about?"

Soren slowly put his book to the side, gazing at his hands. "I do," he answered quietly. "It's hard not to see it."

"And that's why I'm trying to figure out what to do!" Ike growled, his frustration showing itself. "I can't lie to myself. I can't keep going like this. Hell, the company can't keep going like this...Something has to give."

As if those were the magic words, Soren grimaced. While Ike wasn't able to read facial expressions all that well, he knew from the way Soren looked at him that the sage was going to say something ominous. "Ike..."

Ike sighed. "Lay it on me."

Soren bit his lip, trying to figure out how to best word it before deciding to just be blunt. "The simplest solution would be to remove yourself from the company," he said quickly, watching as Ike looked at him in shock. "I can't see any other choice at the moment. As long as you remain in one place, anyone will be able to find you."

For a long while, Ike didn't speak. "You...might have the right idea," he finally said after a few minutes of deliberation. "Still, how can I just leave? There are still so many things I want to do. And I can't just leave without making the right preparations."

"Then make those preparations," Soren stressed, looking slightly exasperated. "Ike, don't be foolish. I know you want to do a lot of things, but you also know that if this whole farce continues, you're never going to be able to do anything. You know it'll be for the best if you stopped everything right here and left. Despite how much it will hurt, it'll make everyone's lives better in the long run."

"If I had known this ahead of time, I wouldn't have become a hero in the first place," Ike muttered, although he said it half-heartedly. Soren was completely right; his status as a legendary hero was starting to make everyone else's lives uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his temples. "So I'll have to leave then."

Soren nodded. "That's the best way, unfortunately."

Shaking his head, Ike looked out the nearest window. The sky was dark and the stars shone brightly in the night. Years ago, he would always look out his window and dream of the day he would become a mercenary in his father's company. But now, times had changed. To help his company, he would have to leave it. "Life was just so much simpler back then, wasn't it?" he wondered, still looking out the window.

"...yes, it was," Soren answered, not looking at Ike. His gaze was averted elsewhere, a frown on his face.

* * *

Ever since that night, Ike had taken Soren's words to heart and wearily made his preparations for leaving. He had told Mist, and unsurprisingly, she had begged and cried and pleaded with him not to go. However, she eventually saw reason when she heard exactly why her brother was leaving, reasons that she reluctantly acknowledged as valid. In any case, Ike was reassured that Boyd would watch over her from now on, so she would be safe.

When he had announced his intentions to the rest of the group, reactions varied. Some didn't want him to go. Others understood why he was leaving, and respected the sacrifice he was making. Shinon, of course, made a big show about how glad he was that Ike was leaving. Of course, from what Rolf had told him later the next day, the sniper was actually going to really miss him for reasons left unsaid.

As he prepared to hand down the leadership of the mercenaries to Mist, he idly wondered what he was going to do after he departed. While he did have an occasional wanderlust, he usually ignored it. But now, with no more attachments to one place, he could go wherever he liked. Upon that realization, things had started to look up; perhaps leaving wouldn't be so bad after all.

He had shared this little tidbit of information with Soren, who only nodded and looked pleased. However, to Ike's eyes, something was off about the sage. He had been more distracted as of late, and had been keeping his distance. At first, Ike had thought it had to do with the fact that they were both leaving; he had known very well that the sage would follow him anywhere. That fact alone had kept his spirits up through such a depressing time, and he was actually looking forward to the road ahead.

He hadn't been counting on the confession that came so unexpectedly.

* * *

"...so, I was thinking after we checked out Gallia, we could move onto Serenes, and then Begnion. Daein would be last before we got a boat and..." Ike stopped as he watched Soren out of the corner of his eye, the tactician not even paying attention. "...Soren?"

"Huh?" Soren mumbled, looking up. "Ah, sorry. I got distracted," he apologized, sitting up straighter. "Could you repeat that?"

Ike frowned. "Soren, what's wrong?" he asked seriously, sitting down in the chair beside him. "You've been acting so distracted lately. Has something been bothering you?"

The sage looked hesitant, clutching at his robes. "Ike...no. No, it's not...anything at all. Nothing to concern yourself with," he said hastily, trying to seem impassive. "Please, go on."

"Soren!" Ike said sharply, frowning. "You're not fooling me! Tell me what's the matter...please. It isn't like you to be like this."

Soren looked back and forth before sighing, nodding. "Very well," he mumbled, regaining his composure. "A few weeks ago...while you and some of the others were out, I had a visitor."

"A visitor?" Ike repeated, confused. Soren never took visitors. The only people he had ever talked to willingly were him and...

From the look of comprehension dawning on Ike's face, Soren nodded again. "Yes. Stefan actually came all the way out here to talk with me. I couldn't...just turn him away, you understand."

Ike nodded. He and Stefan had great respect for each other; he owed the man a lot for helping him refine his technique while Stefan thought very highly of him for treating the Branded like ordinary people. He also knew that Stefan was the only other one that Soren actually talked to normally, considering their situation. "If he came all the way here, why didn't he stay? I would have liked to talk with him a bit, maybe even spar..."

"Because he felt that what he was going to talk about was best kept private...and upon further thought, I agree with what he was thinking that day," Soren explained, looking at the book in his hands. "Anyway...I've been thinking about what he had told me for a long time. This was before we discussed you leaving, to let you know."

"I see," Ike muttered. "What...did you two talk about?"

"About us. The Branded," the sage clarified. "Our lives were ruined by one person who had used a lie in an attempt to protect the laguz. Because of that, we've suffered."

Ike knew full well he was talking about Dheginsea, the former King of Dragons. From what both Kurthnaga and Micaiah had told him, he was the main reason why history had been so twisted. Why the laguz had hated the beorc, the beorc the laguz, and both the Branded. While he only had the chance to speak with Stefan after he had left the Tower of Guidance, Ike could see that the man had some sort of vindication after what he had been told.

"Okay...but what about after that? I can't imagine him just coming here to speak with you about that," Ike remarked, causing Soren to sigh again.

"Ike...he asked me to go to the Grann Desert with him. He wants to work to prove that the Branded are not a crime against the goddess. He wants to make a country made of like-minded individuals," the sage finally explained. "He needs a lot of help, but he's certain he'll get Tellius to recognize it...in time."

Ike really didn't need to be told how much time would be needed, but he knew it would happen eventually. "What did you tell him?" he asked.

Soren remained silent, not daring to look at Ike's eyes.

"Soren," Ike pressed, a gentle expression on his face. "It's alright. Please tell me."

"...I don't know what I want to do," Soren finally admitted. "I swore to follow you wherever you would go. But...every time I think about it, what Stefan said makes sense. Would it be possible for the Branded to live like ordinary people in the future? I can't even begin to describe it... the possibility."

"Now I get it," Ike said, chuckling to himself. Soren was torn between his duty to him and what his heart was telling him what to do. Before the whole war, Soren wouldn't have cared one whit about what happened to anyone but Ike. But now that the truth had been revealed, it seemed that he was reevaluating his stance, truly realizing the implications that one lie had caused to a whole class of people—people like him. Ike knew that Soren had suffered grievously in his life, and perhaps now that he was thinking on it, maybe the sage didn't want anyone else to experience his pain. "What is it that you want to do, Soren?"

Soren looked up in surprise. "What I want to do?" he repeated, somewhat dumbfounded. "I want to stay with you, Ike! I swore that!"

Ike shook his head. "That's not what I'm asking," he said gently. "I'm asking...what do you really want to do?"

"I..." For the first time in a long time, Soren had been struck speechless.

Ike smiled. "Soren, you're my best friend. That said, whatever you want to do...I'll support you, like you've supported me all these years. Do what you feel is right. Don't let me stop you," he assured the smaller man, placing his hand on his shoulder.

Soren blinked rapidly. "Ike...you...I..." he sputtered, unable to find any words as Ike pulled him into a hug. Tears flowed from Soren's eyes; words could not express the gratitude for the man he called his best friend.

* * *

A week later, Soren had said his goodbyes to everyone as he and Stefan prepared to leave. As he was doing that, Ike had found himself alone with his former sparring partner, both of them staring at each other, unsure of what to say.

Ike finally held out a hand to the green-haired man, smiling sadly. "Take care of him, Stefan," he said, watching as Stefan took his hand and shook it. "With Soren with you, you'll definitely succeed."

Stefan smiled back, although it was just as sad. "You won't have to worry about him. I'll make sure he's fine. And for what it's worth..." He then brushed back the parts of his hair that covered his face, revealing a black mark that ran across it. His mark. "Thank you for everything. I've never witnessed someone becoming so strong after these last few years...and to be quite honest, I dread ever facing you in combat."

"Same here," Ike responded, and the way Stefan laughed made it seem like he didn't believe him. "Just...make sure he's happy, okay?"

"I will," the Branded man promised. "Ike, Hero of the Blue Flames, and friend of beorc, laguz, and the Branded...I've been truly honored to meet you."

The mercenary nodded and, with a heavy heart, watched as both Soren and Stefan departed from the fort, off to do what their hearts told them to do.

* * *

Not even two weeks later, Ike had said his own farewells to his company, transferring leadership to his sister and Boyd. After some tearful goodbyes and some veiled threats to his other best friend, who swore to keep Mist safe, he departed for his journey around Tellius.

His first destination was Melior, where he would speak with Elincia and everyone else before departing. He made it a point to make sure that all the nations were well on their way to recovering from the war. And, much to his delight, they were. Crimea's and Gallia's ties had become near inseparable, and both Queen Elincia and King Skrimir were making plans to have more beorc-laguz interaction in the foreseeable future.

After he had visited Melior and explained to Elincia what he was doing, she had nodded before coming up and hugging him, much to his (and her retainer's) surprise. While he knew that Elincia had had feelings for him at one point, they'd both known that it wouldn't work out. She said she would miss him, and bid him a good journey. Bastian had gone into a long poem about Ike's heroic acts, which everyone completely ignored. Both Lucia and Geoffrey also wished him well, thanking him for everything he had done. He managed to leave before anyone could give him a hero's farewell, which was something he definitely _didn't_ need _or_ want.

He spent a bit more time in Gallia. Skrimir made a surprisingly good king; the young ruler was pouring all of his energy into making his land prosper with relations to the other countries. Ranulf seemed tired by everything Skrimir wanted him to do, but Ike couldn't think of any other time where his friend looked so fulfilled. All of his other laguz companions had been doing well, having either retired to the great forest or continuing in the army, despite the peace.

As he promised Caineghis, he had his duel with him as many other laguz watched. The former lion king was monstrously powerful, and it took all of Ike's skill just to keep standing under his blows. In the end, it had been declared a draw; neither Ike nor Caineghis could move due to mutual disabling blows. They shared a laugh as they recuperated, Caineghis telling him that he was beyond honored to have faced such a powerful beorc. That comment, coupled with the amazement on Skrimir's face at what he had done, made Ike feel really good.

Eventually, he had said his farewells there as well and made his way into Goldoa. True to his word, Kurthnaga had indeed opened up Goldoa's borders, and many people had been traveling to see what lie in the land of dragons. The land only had a few cities, each one far away from another, but the whole country seemed to give off a serene and peaceful atmosphere that many found intensely comforting. Ike figured it was due to centuries of isolation, and wondered if it would still be like this after outsiders began settling in.

Meeting with the dragons had been enlightening, to be sure. Kurthnaga was definitely busy, making sure that the history of both his nation and of Tellius was correctly revised. Gareth was always one step behind his lord, both protecting him and giving him needed advice when necessary. Ike also saw Nasir around the palace and had chatted with him for many marks, only deciding to retire to his room after the sun had gone down. According to his former companion, Kurthnaga had been making great strides in opening up Goldoa, despite initial resistance from his people. Scholars had flocked to the country the moment they heard the borders were open, and the king had been gracious in dealing with all of them, despite his lack of knowledge of beorc.

Ena had been her usual passive self, greeting Ike and, much as he expected, figuring out the reason he was traveling. Though he never said so, he found it incredibly hard to believe that the red dragon had been pregnant during both wars. Thankfully, Ena didn't say anything about it, other than that everyone outside of Goldoa would have found it just as shocking.

After his business in Goldoa was concluded, he journeyed towards the newly-established Kingdom of Serenes, where all the bird tribes had been united. Up to that point, he had been little more than a tourist, seeing what was going on before leaving a few days later. He had given no thought to what he was going to do after visiting all the countries, though he'd entertained the thought of buying a ship and looking for new continents. Given how Yune had said that she (by which she meant Ashunera) hadn't been perfect, other continents could very well be thriving across the sea. Perhaps he would journey out there to see if that were true.

However, his brief stop in Serenes would jolt some memories of his, and give him a new destination he hadn't thought of before.

* * *

"Ah, Ike. Haven't seen you in a while!" Tibarn greeted, holding up a hand in greeting.

Ike offered him a small smile, leaning against one of the many trees. "Same goes for you, Tibarn...or should I call you King Tibarn now?"

The hawk laughed. "Tibarn will do. But what brings you all the way to Serenes? Last time I checked, you were off playing at being a mercenary again," he commented, getting a wince from the blue-haired man.

"Yeah, about that..." Ike chuckled humorlessly. "Let's just say being a hero isn't really that great for the sanity of your company."

Tibarn nodded in understanding. "Well, it can't be helped. You are highly revered by pretty much everyone on the face of Tellius. I'd be more surprised if you were actually left to grow old in peace."

"Gee, thanks," Ike said sarcastically, getting another laugh from the hawk. "Anyway, as to why I'm here...I'm just checking around the kingdoms. I want to make sure that each place is getting along before I actually decide to leave."

Tibarn frowned a bit. "You're really leaving the continent?" he asked, getting a nod from the other man. "Hm. Well, it's possible other continents might exist, but no one has dared ventured outside Tellius since the Great Flood. But since we know Hatari exists, there could well be other places..."

Ike blinked. "Hatari?" he repeated, curious. He had only heard bits and pieces of the country across the Desert of Death, and in all honesty, had forgotten about it. Nailah hadn't actually talked about it much during their travels, so he had no idea what the country was like. "Have you been there?"

The hawk gave him a surprised glance. "Why the sudden interest?" he asked before shaking his head. "No, I haven't been there. Rafiel recently went back there, however. Given how long he's been living there, I suppose he feels more at home there than the forest..."

Ike nodded. "I ask because I've never seen it, that's all," he answered, his mind mulling over the possibility of going there. "Now that you've mentioned it, I guess it wouldn't hurt to make a side trip over there before I left, huh?"

Tibarn raised an eyebrow. "Quite the curious one, aren't you? Well, I don't blame you. Everyone's been flocking to Goldoa recently, so not many people have heard about Hatari. Not that many people want to cross the Desert of Death, after all."

"Yeah, that is a problem," Ike responded, sighing. "Do you think there's any way for me to cross the desert and find it?"

Tibarn looked thoughtful. "Perhaps..." he murmured, looking off into the forest. "You'd have to speak to Reyson about it. He and Rafiel still have the sending stones the dragons gave us, so they'll be able to communicate."

Ike nodded. "Thanks. I'll consider it," he said with a grateful smile. "So, aside from Hatari...did you ever figure out the meat issue?"

"Meat issue?" Tibarn questioned, looking slightly confused before a look of comprehension dawned on his face. "Ah, that! Ha, of course we did. Took a while until I could convince Reyson to let me do it, though."

"Really? What did you two do?"

"Well..."

The two then talked for a few marks as they walked through the forest, exchanging stories of what had happened in the past few months. Ike learned that the integration of all the bird tribes hadn't been as easy as everyone said, as there were still a lot of hawks that distrusted the ravens. However, Tibarn had learned of Naesala's reasons for betraying the alliance—and of everything before that. Though it had still bothered him, he had told his hawk brothers to stand down and had welcomed the ravens.

As for Naesala himself...well, Tibarn had told Ike that the former Raven King refused to live in Serenes Forest, opting instead to travel around the continent and act as a diplomat for various countries. Ike felt a bit sorry for the laguz; only Naesala knew for sure how long he'd been suffering under the Blood Pact. But with Lekain and most of the other senators dead, he was free from the tyranny of the senate, and had entrusted his people to a ruler he thought better suited than he was.

Leanne was in high spirits when Ike met her, chatting excitedly with another heron that Ike hadn't personally met, but had heard about from Reyson. It was Lorazieh, their father and the former king of the herons. While he looked frail and somewhat pale, he was doing a lot better than before, from what Tibarn had told him. The oddest part was that Leanne was talking to her father in the modern tongue—very slowly, but the modern tongue nonetheless.

"She's still learning, but she figures that if she attempts to speak it everyday to everyone, she'll get the hang of it," Tibarn had mentioned to him, and Ike merely nodded. It made sense to him, and it also brought up a memory of his back during the war, where a certain wolf laguz had given him an elixir as a sign of friendship.

Ike started, cursing himself for forgetting. _We were going to teach each other our language,_ he remembered. Sadly enough, there had been no time for it other than a few lessons, and ever since then, he had been too busy. In any case, Volug had returned to Hatari with Nailah shortly after the war, so it had become a moot point.

But he was still interested in learning the old language. He had taken Mordecai's words to heart all those years ago—if people could understand each other, they wouldn't have to fight. Elincia had proved that when she stopped both the Laguz Alliance and the Central Army from warring in Crimea. Though Ike was a warrior, he had enough kill-or-be-killed situations to last him several lifetimes. The ability to talk to someone and to understand them was indeed a great gift, and if Ike could learn the ancient tongue, he would be guaranteed to know how to speak with anyone.

Suddenly, it seemed like a new purpose had been ignited within him. The desire to learn the ancient language was surprisingly strong, and it suddenly seemed like that wanting to journey to find new lands was somehow insignificant. _I did promise Volug that we would teach each other, didn't I? I can't believe I forgot about that! Well, I can't actually start a journey until I fulfill that promise, so it seems that I'll be going to Hatari,_ he thought, instantly making plans in his mind. He didn't know if the wolf would be as eager as he was, but back then, his violet eyes had shone with a willingness to learn when he had mentioned it.

He didn't know why, considering that Volug had all the time in the world before the war. So why did he only want learn with him?

* * *

After meeting and talking with Reyson, the heron prince had agreed to contact his brother so they could make preparations to receive him. Grateful to the prince, Ike had spent nearly the entire day just talking with both him and Tibarn, each of them discussing what they were planning to do in the future. Reyson was surprised that Ike was going to be searching for new lands, and had wished him the best of luck in doing so. "Who knows?" he had said, looking a bit wistful. "Perhaps there are other lost heron royals out there somewhere."

It was intended as a joke,but from the looks of sympathy on both Ike's and Tibarn's faces, Reyson could tell it had fallen flat.

After spending a few days within the forest, Ike said his goodbyes and left for Begnion. Unlike the other countries, his stay was brief there, only lasting two days. Sanaki was incredibly busy, and had only enough time between meetings for hurried conversations. From what Ike could infer, the Empress was having slight troubles in abolishing some of the ancient edicts, but she was slowly working past those and creating laws that everyone could respect.

When he had offered to give back Ragnell, she had emphatically refused. "We're going to move on from back then," she told him firmly. "Even though both Ragnell and Alondite are our national treasures, we're moving on from the past. Besides, everyone thinks of it as your blade now. It wouldn't do it justice to lock it up in a storehouse somewhere."

He was grateful to the Empress for the consideration, especially since he had placed Alondite at Zelgius's grave. The man had deserved that much, despite how Ike felt about him.

Talking with both Sigrun and Tanith had been enjoyable for the short time he had been able to, as they were just as busy as Sanaki, if not more so. They had been busy rebuilding the ranks of the Holy Guard and had been given temporary control over the army until a new general could be found to head it. Training so many people was no doubt exhausting, but the gratified looks on their faces as they spoke of Sanaki and her efforts told Ike all that he needed to know.

Amazingly, he had seen both Tormod and Muarim within the halls of Mainal Cathedral. Upon speaking with them, Tormod had excitedly told him about how the Empress had made them the new officials to help bridge the gap with the laguz, with Muarim being the first laguz official ever. After talking with them for a mark or so, they had to depart on business, leaving Ike alone in the grand halls. He decided to rest up and head out for Daein the next day, although he took care to avoid the Grann Desert. It would be better for Soren to settle down first before he visited again, he thought.

Daein was as chilly as ever, even in the warm months of the year. While the people were wary of him, they still greeted him normally. Meeting with Queen Micaiah and King Sothe—_King_ Sothe, something Ike never thought he would say—was quite interesting. Especially with the way Sothe kept revering him, much to the astonishment to the court officials, though strangely of no surprise to Micaiah. According to the Queen, everything had been going on well enough, despite the slight struggle to regain the trust of the other nations. Even though everyone who had been at the Tower of Guidance knew of the Blood Pact and its effects, the rulers of the other countries had to convince their own people that Daein was no longer a threat—something that was far easier said than done.

He had found Tauroneo after his meeting with the couple, and the two had sat down over a meal so the general could tell Ike old stories about his father, of when he was one of the Four Riders. Ike had found it very interesting, especially considering that Tauroneo had remarked that Gawain had not been unlike him at his age; hotheaded, a bit dense, and possessing knowledge of what was right and wrong. From the way the general talked about him, it made Ike feel ever closer to his father, knowing that they weren't so different when they were the same age.

Ike spent a few days in Nevassa, hearing tales of what his old companions were up to. As his stay came to an end, he journeyed towards the edge of the Desert of Death, knowing Hatari was beyond the wasteland.

* * *

"Sand, sand, and more sand..." Ike muttered to himself as he gazed out at the sandy expanse. The sun hung high overhead as sandstorms whipped up in the distance. Traversing the desert at the moment was out of the question, so he had set up a small campsite at the very edge of the desert, shielding his eyes from the constantly blowing sand. "Hm. I wonder how to get across here..."

The obvious option was to travel at night, when the desert was a lot cooler and a lot more tolerable. However, it still left a few problems, such as him not knowing how to get to Hatari in the first place. If he lost his way within the desert by the time the sun rose, he was as good as dead. No, he had to think of something else. He needed some sort of guide through the desert...

"You look like you've been well since we last parted. I trust that your journey so far has been a pleasant one?" came a sudden voice, and Ike looked up to see a familiar tanned woman standing not that far away from him, smirking. Next to Nailah stood the ever serene Prince Rafiel, looking completely out of place in the desert wasteland.

Ike chuckled. "You could say that," he remarked, standing up from where he was brooding. "Good to see you again, Queen Nailah."

The wolf queen nodded, staring back out at the desert. "You should have imagined my surprise when Rafiel told me that you wanted to visit Hatari. No one else has ever crossed the desert to see my country."

"Although you two have, right?" Ike questioned, getting a nod from her. "Heh. I'm actually curious as to what Hatari is like. I haven't heard anything about it at all," he mentioned, getting a slight smile from Nailah.

"Are you now? Well, given that you seem to be traveling the world, Hatari would probably be a good place to start, hm?" When Ike nodded, she chuckled. "I thought so. It might be better if Rafiel explains it for you, because he's been the only outsider to visit in a long, long time."

Rafiel nodded, brushing a blond lock of hair out of his eyes. "Hatari is quite the lively place," he explained to Ike as the man listened. "While I wouldn't quite say that it is anywhere near the population size of somewhere like Crimea, it boasts a rather large populace full of both beorc and laguz."

"And some of them are also Branded?" Ike asked.

"Of course. The people of Hatari see the relationship of the two as normal," Nailah spoke up, leading both of them towards another spot near the edge of the desert. "They accept that the laguz parent will lose their powers when their child is born. Everyone sees it as the next step of life. Even though it's rare for a child to be born between them, there is no prejudice against the Branded."

Ike smiled. "That sounds wonderful," he sighed. It sounded like the exact sort of thing that both Stefan and Soren would be working towards. Although their situation was radically different, if their nation could end up like how Hatari was... "I just can't believe there was another country across the desert."

"Likewise, we couldn't believe there was anything out there either," Nailah acknowledged with a nod, looking at Rafiel. "Not until Rafiel showed up."

"Mm..." the heron mumbled before deciding to continue. "While the weather is fairly warm all year round, there are several forests and lakes in Hatari, despite how odd it might seem. It's a very serene place, despite the heat."

"Sounds good," Ike replied as he and the other two started to make their way into the desert. "So, how do we get there?"

Nailah smirked. "Once you've found your way through the desert, crossing it is far too easy. Just make sure to follow me and remember the path you followed." With that said, she howled and shifted into her wolf form, sniffing at the air. Rafiel sat on her back as the wolf queen started to make her way through the sands, Ike following closely behind. Shielding his eyes from the sandstorm while following Nailah proved to be no easy task, but he kept up fairly well, as the wolf queen only had to stop once to make sure he was still within distance.

They rested in some ancient ruins after a mark or two of traveling, waiting for the sandstorm to die down a bit before continuing. Even Nailah couldn't navigate correctly with such a fierce storm in front of her, so the three decided to wait it out before continuing onward.

"Reyson had told me you returned to mercenary work," Rafiel commented as they were talking. "But why are you alone now?"

Ike shrugged. "Too much fame," he said honestly. The heron would know exactly why he left, but was far too polite to gaze into his heart without permission. "Although it brought us some work, it was starting to fray everyone's nerves. I thought it would be for the best if I had just left."

Nailah nodded in understanding. "Everyone wants to meet a hero," she remarked, her tail swishing along the ground. "But when the hero himself gets fed up with all of it, he disappears. You never wanted to be a hero in the first place, did you, Ike?"

"Of course not. All I did was stay true to my beliefs and help those that I wanted to," Ike responded, crossing his arms. "I can see why people would call me a hero, but I don't want any of it." He paused again for a moment before looking curious. "How did you know that though, Queen Nailah?"

"You'd be surprised at the number of tales my people have," Nailah said with a smile. "Yours is oddly reminiscent of one of them. I wonder if I have enough time to tell you about it?"

"Queen Nailah, the tale wouldn't make sense unless Sir Ike has read all about it in our archives," Rafiel reminded her, still smiling.

"Ah, that's right. A pity."

Ike blinked. "Is it all written in the old tongue?" he asked, getting a nod from both of them. "Wow, what a coincidence."

"What's a coincidence?" the wolf queen asked, looking perplexed.

Ike chuckled. "Well...remember back when we were in Duke Tanas's estate?" he asked, getting nods from the both of them. "And remember how Volug was trying to talk to me?"

"Yes, I do...ah, now I see what you're getting at," Nailah realized, a slow smile coming to her face. "You want to learn the ancient tongue."

"And I want to teach Volug the modern language," Ike finished, getting a nod from the wolf queen. "I did promise him, after all."

"That is definitely a great idea," Rafiel commented. "Volug has been...fairly stubborn in refusing to learn. Yet when you told him you wanted to teach him while learning his..." He silenced when Nailah gave him a sharp glance. "Oh, my apologies. That's not for me to say."

Ike had the feeling that whatever the heron prince was saying was a private matter, so he ignored that part. "Anyway, do you think he'll be up for it? I know I've made him wait a while, but now I'm ready to commit myself to it."

Nailah nodded, and to Ike, she looked oddly satisfied. "Volug will be more than willing if I have anything to say about it," she promised. "After you get into Hatari, we'll discuss the specifics a bit more."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ike muttered while bowing his head.

The wolf queen shook her head. "No, don't thank me. Rather, it is I who should be thanking you, Ike." She didn't say any more than that, even as Ike gazed at her curiously.

Deciding to drop the matter for the time being, Ike talked idly with the two for another mark or so before Nailah determined that it was safe to cross the desert again. The sun had begun to set, and much of heat that was present during the day had vanished, making it much easier to move without it being stifling.

It continued like this for the next two days, stopping every so often to rest and hydrate themselves. Each night, they would go as far as they could before they rested for the day, finding the shade of nearby ruins to sleep under. The three had made great progress as they moved across the desert each day, and to Ike, the landscape seemed different. Sure, it was just sand all around him, but it was like there had been a change in the terrain that he hadn't been aware of.

"There are more ruins around here than the area closer to Daein," Rafiel had told him as he caught up, answering his unvoiced question. "As such, the whole expanse looks slightly odd, doesn't it?"

Ike nodded. There had been more broken pillars and stone structures than he could count, and he had been wondering why it seemed so concentrated in one area. "Are we getting closer to Hatari?" he asked, brushing sand off his clothes again. It was night at the moment, meaning they were pushing themselves to continue on. The Desert of Death had been large and expansive indeed, and it was quite easy to get lost in it. He was very lucky he had the Queen of Hatari to guide his way.

Nailah shifted back into her beorc form, nodding while stretching. "We are. We're about...oh, not even half a day away. However, it's important that we take the time to rest at the moment." At Ike's curious stare, she chuckled. "Oh, it's not because I'm worried about you, Ike. I know you can keep up. Rather, I think we need to let Rafiel rest after such a long journey."

To Ike's surprise, Rafiel actually looked somewhat exasperated. "Queen Nailah, I assure you that I will be fine. A long journey like this cannot easily exhaust me," he insisted. "I will be fine. Let us continue, and I will rest once we are in Hatari proper."

"I've got to agree with Rafiel. It's better to move while it's cool enough to do so," Ike mentioned.

"Mm. Alright, if you insist," Nailah conceded before she changed back into her wolf form. Rafiel got on her back again as they made their way across the dunes, intent on getting to the other side of the desert.

It was another few marks until Ike could finally see some greenery ahead of them, and inwardly rejoiced. "Finally," he let out, rubbing his eyes. "I've seen enough sand to last me a lifetime."

Nailah let out a growl that Ike interpreted as a snicker, and she did seem amused.

"It is very tiring to travel so long through the desert," Rafiel mused, still sitting gracefully on Nailah's back. "But we are in Hatari now. We shall be where we need to be shortly."

Ike nodded and continued to follow Nailah, and for the next half-mark, she led him out of the desert and into a grove of trees. Even now, he sighed in relief as he wandered into the cool shade of the leaves, even though it was dark out. Anything was better than the desert, he found. The wolf queen wordlessly led him through the trees, and Ike had to marvel at the growth around him--who knew that there was something like this across the desert?

Eventually, she led him out of the forest and along a path for a few miles before they finally reached a village late at night. It was moderately sized, with houses built all around, but what struck him the most was the large palace looming in front of him, stationed right in the middle of the village. While it wasn't anything grand, it was still fairly large and had quite a regal look to it.

Nailah shifted out of her wolf state and chuckled. "Welcome to Hatari."

* * *

Sleeping on a bed was almost heaven to Ike after traveling through the Desert of Death. The constant days of travel through the wasteland had really worn on him, and he had to force himself to rest just so he would feel better. Thankfully, after half a day or rest, he managed to get himself up and moving so he could start exploring around. Nailah had given him permission to venture wherever he wanted, excluding her room. Just like the exterior, her castle wasn't by any means grand or extravagant, but it held a sort of regal feel to it that still conveyed the presence of royalty. In Ike's eyes, it was just fine.

As soon as he rested enough, he knew the first thing he wanted to do. He wanted to find Volug and say hello, just to let the wolf know he was there. However, he had the small problem of trying to find him, considering that Volug wasn't the only wolf laguz to live in Hatari. Just from walking around, he could see the numerous beorc that inhabited the village, each one not so different from the people he had seen beforehand. There were also numerous wolf tribe laguz wandering around, talking with the beorc and interacting like two people should have, without prejudice.

I can only hope Tellius will be like this in the future, Ike thought with a wistful smile. Everyone's efforts to mend relations between the two races looked like they had been paying off, and it looked like even Daein would be accepting the laguz with a little time. Deciding to look for Volug later, Ike wandered around the village, taking note of where each place was. There were shops, food markets...there was even an armory, amazingly enough.

However, Ike did notice one thing as he was touring the place. Everyone was speaking in the ancient tongue, and quite fluently at that. It wasn't a big surprise to him as he thought about it, considering that all of them had assumed they were the only survivors of the great flood for many centuries, but it was still a bit disconcerting to know that he was a stranger among them in this case. He'd occasionally come across someone using the modern tongue, but whatever use of it was brief before they continued using the ancient language.

Hearing all of it just made his desire to learn it all the more intense. He didn't know why, but he was determined to learn it perfectly. But to that, he had to find Volug first...

Another few marks found Ike still wandering about the village. It was fairly large, and he was surprised to see that a lot of the buildings weren't that much different than the ones in Tellius. The town was moderately populated, and there certainly were quite a number of wolf laguz along with the beorc. Of course, everyone stared at him every time he passed, whispering to each other in the old language. It was no surprise to him; after all, it wasn't everyday that someone crossed the Desert of Death.

Eventually, he got tired of looking around and decided to retire back to the palace, putting off looking for Volug until the next day. Perhaps Nailah or Rafiel had a better idea of where he was. As he wandered into the palace grounds, he looked off to the side to see a meadow of sorts, surrounded by numerous trees and a small pond. It looked like the sort of place Rafiel would come down and sing in.

Absentmindedly, he walked closer to it, intent on just taking a quick look before going back to his room. "Rafiel wasn't kidding about it being serene," he murmured to himself, walking into the small glade. "Definitely looks like a good place to relax."

As he looked around, his gaze settled on one figure laying underneath the shade of one of the trees, apparently resting. A slow smile came to Ike's face. "Well, what do you know? What a coincidence," he said to himself, walking a bit closer. It looked like the figure was resting, apparently liking the shade of the tree. However, his ears perked up the moment he heard Ike approach, and he raised his head to see who it was.

Ike stopped as he saw the wolf stare at him, and for a brief moment, he didn't know what to say. "Hey. Nice to see you again, Volug," he finally greeted, waving.

The wolf stared at him before standing and shifting back to his beorc state, violet eyes wide as they stared at him. "_**What are you doing here?**_" he asked in the old tongue, looking somewhat shocked.

Ike frowned. He was still no closer to understanding the ancient tongue, so he had to try and feel out what the wolf was asking. "I just came from the Desert of Death. Nailah and Rafiel guided me here because I wanted to see Hatari," he explained, feeling that at least telling Volug how he got there was a good start. Looking around, he chuckled. "Nice place to sleep, by the way."

"_**Not exactly what I asked, but okay.**_" Volug stretched a bit, which Ike figured was because he had been laying down too long. The wolf's tail lazily swayed from side to side, and Ike got the impression that the wolf was a bit annoyed he was bothered.

"So...er...how've you been?" Ike asked, trying to make conversation. He knew it would be difficult because of the language barrier, but he wanted to try and understand the wolf. Idle chatter seemed the best way to do that...or, at least, he hoped so. "It's been a while since the war, so I was wondering how you were doing."

Volug snorted. "_**Fine. Swell. Okay. Is that good enough?**_"

"Er..." Ike really didn't know how to answer that, because he still had no idea of what Volug just said. "Well, you seem fine, so I'm glad that everything's going well." He paused for a moment, thinking up another question. "So...were you really just sleeping just now?" he asked lightly, teasing the wolf.

Volug seemed to sigh in annoyance. "_**Do I have to spell it out in another language for you?**_" he asked in exasperation before he froze, his next words dying on his tongue. "_**Oh...I guess I do. Sorry...I forgot,**_" he muttered before taking a deep breath. "I was...tired. Resting," he tried to explain, but to Ike's eyes, he was visibly struggling to form the words he needed to.

"Hey, Volug, you don't have to do that!" he insisted, placing his hands up in placation. "I know it's hard for me to understand you, but I think I can get by for today. I mean, it's okay if you don't want to talk back to me."

"It's..._**not that,**_" Volug responded, slipping back into the ancient tongue. "_**But I can't just sit here and keep listening to you while I do nothing. You'd look foolish.**_" Taking another deep breath, Volug shook his head. "I will...list..en. Listen."

Ike smiled. "Wow, you're making progress. Unlike me," he chuckled. "Maybe once we begin to teach each other, we'll be better off, huh?"

Volug blinked. "Teach?" he repeated. "_**What do you mean, Ike?**_"

"Yes, teach," Ike clarified. "To be honest...one of the biggest reasons I came to Hatari was to keep my promise. Remember how we said we'd learn each other's language? It might have taken me some time to get my affairs in order, but I'm here now, willing to learn."

Volug reared back, eyes wide in disbelief. "_**Wait, you...actually meant it back then?**_" he sputtered out, and Ike knew that the wolf was shocked. "_**You actually want to do that? With me? You really came here because of that promise?**_" Shaking his head, Volug forced himself to remain calm, his normal composure returning. "That is...fine."

Ike nodded, smiling a bit. He decided not to ask Volug what the problem was, considering that he probably didn't want to talk about it. "Mm. Queen Nailah said she was going to discuss it further with us, so I think she means to talk with us tomorrow or something. At least I hope so." Scratching the back of his head, Ike realized how awkward the conversation had gone. "Well, uh...I guess I'll leave you alone now. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"...yes," Volug grunted, turning away after catching Ike's nod. The former mercenary frowned a little bit, but bid him a good night before leaving.

He didn't catch it as the wolf turned away, but Volug had a deeply confused expression on his face, his eyes gazing off at something in the distance. "_**He really meant it? I never thought that he would be serious about it**_..."

* * *

Nailah indeed called them together the next morning, meeting outside in one of the secluded clearings in her "garden", which was nothing more than a grove of trees. It still amazed Ike to see such growth on the other side of the desert, which brought even more wonderings to him. What else was out there? Beyond the seas?

"I see you two have joined us," the wolf queen acknowledged with a nod to both Ike and her retainer. "Good. I'll cut to the chase. Since Ike has expressed a great interest in learning the ancient tongue, I've decided that you'll be teaching him, Volug. Is that clear?" Ike was surprised at the tone in Nailah's voice, and he knew full well that she wouldn't brook any sort of objection to her demands.

Volug seemed to shrug, seemingly impassive. "_**Crystal,**_" he grunted, merely sitting down on the mat provided to him.

Nailah gave him a curious glance before turning to Ike. "Ike, you'll also be teaching Volug as well. While it will not be easy, I expect that both of you will be able to be fluent in each other's language eventually. It's up to both of you to dedicate yourselves to learning it," she instructed, getting nods. "To give you an example of how hard it might be, it took me a few months just to feel comfortable with talking in the modern tongue. It took me nearly a year to achieve actual fluency with it. Whether or not you'll be able to do it faster depends on how determined you both are."

Ike glanced at Volug, who was paying strict attention to everything Nailah was saying. He knew it would be difficult, but he wasn't going to give up learning it. "Just a question, Your Majesty," he interrupted, getting looks from everyone. "How do you want us to work this out? You said Volug understands most of what I'm saying, but it's difficult for me to understand him."

Nailah nodded. "I've thought of that. While I'll leave both of you to work out all the details, I'd advise that you teach him in the mornings," she suggested, drumming her fingers against her thigh. "He can then use whatever lessons you've taught him to use when he's instructing you. Is that satisfactory?" When Ike nodded, she smiled. "Good. To make it easier for you, Rafiel and I will guide you for the first few days, just so you have an idea on how to proceed."

Ike let a small smile of relief show on his face. "Thank you. I was worried that we would start off without an idea of what to do, honestly," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

Volug snorted. "_**Not like that would be a surprise,**_" he huffed, getting a glare from Nailah.

"_**Stop being so obstinate. I know how much you want to learn the language, so now that Ike has approached you about it, I thought you would act a bit happier considering,**_" she snapped, getting Volug to look down at the floor to avoid meeting her gaze. Sighing, she turned to Ike, who merely looked confused. "I ask that you please forgive Volug for any...comments he tends to make at times. They tend to be blunt."

Ike shook his head. "It's alright. Even if I can't understand him, he's more than likely telling the truth, right?"

Volug turned his head to stare at him, an unreadable expression on his face. "_**You would believe I would be telling you the truth, even though you really can't understand what I'm saying?**_" he asked in disbelief.

Nailah shot Volug another look, and the wolf silenced. "As I said, Volug sometimes gets carried away," she explained, still looking at the wolf. "He means well, but sometimes he overdoes it."

"That's fine. People sometimes say the same about me," Ike replied. "Anyway...when should we get started?"

"Right now," Rafiel spoke up, finally saying something for the first time since they convened. Everyone watched as he unfurled a scroll, and even from where he was sitting, Ike could see the complex symbols of the ancient language written on it. "Since for today we'll just be easing you into this, I thought it would be prudent to fetch this."

Nailah smiled. "Ah, good idea. I hadn't thought of that," she remarked, ushering Rafiel to sit down in the chair next to her. "As he was saying, the scroll he is holding is a direct translation of the two languages. Since the modern tongue of Tellius was derived from the ancient language, there actually hasn't been a change in the fundamental structure of it. Just like how the modern tongue has twenty-six letters, so does the ancient tongue."

"Really?" Ike asked. "Sometimes it doesn't seem like it, with how it sounds."

Rafiel nodded. "Which was one of the main reasons that the modern tongue was invented. The ancient tongue was very complex, and the pronunciation was very difficult between several tribes. But don't be discouraged; once you become comfortable with it, speaking it will be second nature."

"_**Then why is the modern tongue difficult to learn as well, for us that have had...problems?**_" Volug asked, and Nailah gave him a sympathetic look, and Ike definitely had the impression that something was wrong.

"While the modern language was created to be easier for the tribes to interact better with each other, it was still not easy to learn, by all means," Rafiel answered. "Just like the ancient language, it all lies in the pronunciation and syntax; once you are over that step, it'll come naturally to you."

"He speaks the truth. I fumbled with my words a few times before I managed to speak properly, and I never had a problem since," Nailah added. "Still, getting to that point will be difficult. But I know both of you will succeed."

Ike bowed his head. "I'll be just as determined to learn, like Volug is."

"_**Thanks for the vote of confidence,**_" the wolf muttered dryly.

Nailah sighed before she settled back into her chair. "Alright, let us begin."

* * *

The beginning lesson extended all the way into afternoon, as both Nailah and Rafiel made sure to point out all the differences between the two languages. Some of it made Ike's head spin; a lot of the symbols in the ancient tongue looked similar, but were actually completely different. Nevertheless, he paid rapt attention to everything they said, only asking a few questions every so often.

Volug, on the other hand, was completely silent for the whole session, only speaking when Nailah ordered him to. Ike had no idea why the wolf was so subdued during the session, but he could tell that the tanned man was paying just as much attention as he was. Nailah seemed to have been expecting his silence, continuing on without interruption. It got Ike curious however, and it still had him wondering why Volug didn't take the time to learn it before they ever met.

As for the lesson itself, Rafiel hadn't been kidding that both languages were closer than he thought. In fact, they were essentially the same, with only slight modifications. However, while the word structure was identical, Nailah pointed out that the pronunciation made it seem like both languages had completely different syntax. It was quite easy to read something in modern and try to say it in ancient, only to badly mangle it, she explained.

And the pronunciation itself was very difficult. While he had heard the language many times, learning how to pronounce each letter of the ancient tongue was far more difficult than he imagined. It had been somewhat embarrassing to stumble over each of them as Rafiel led him through it, being corrected every few seconds by the heron prince. For a brief moment, he thought Volug had snickered, but he had caught no signs of humor on the wolf's face when he glanced back.

On the other hand, Volug seemed to have a better understanding of the modern language, yet just as much difficultly speaking it. From what Ike gleaned that morning, the wolf had a bad tendency to revert back to the ancient tongue while attempting to speak modern, which caused him to say something that no one could make out. While neither Nailah or Rafiel looked surprised at it, it still caused Volug to sulk a bit, for reasons unknown to Ike.

After Nailah dismissed them, Ike retrieved Ragnell and went to start training for the day. He found that swinging a sword daily not only helped him sharpen his skill, it also allowed him time to think clearly. It had certainly been a lot of information to absorb, and it had only been the first lesson! However, he knew with enough time, he'd get it, and he was determined not to falter.

Taking a deep breath as he swung his blade, he focused his mind. _It'll be difficult, but I'll be able to speak it in time. I just have to think of it as like training with a sword; you have to get the basics down before you can begin fighting at all._ Perhaps that was the key to tackling the issue; to think of it like the only other constant in his life at the moment.

A sudden rustling caught his attention as he stopped, turning around to see Volug in his beorc state, staring intently at him. "Oh, hey Volug," Ike greeted, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. "What's up?" He wasn't surprised when he didn't get an immediate answer, watching as those violet eyes bore into his own. "Interesting start to the lessons, huh?"

"_**You could say that,**_" Volug responded, before he flinched, frowning. "They were," he then replied, forcing himself to speak in the modern tongue. "I wish...to...learn."

Ike chuckled. "So do I. I have to admit that I'm really awkward with all of this," he admitted, causing Volug to look at him curiously. "I mean, you can already understand most of what I'm saying, and I can't understand what you say at all. I feel bad because of that."

Volug blinked. "Understand...different from speaking," he said slowly, wincing at how broken it sounded. "Only when speak...can I understand."

"Yeah...if two people really want to understand each other, they have to be able to speak to each other, huh?" Ike sighed. "But I'm going to work at it so we'll be able to do that. We'll learn a lot from each other, I think."

"Why?" Volug suddenly questioned, a confused frown on his face as his ears twitched.

"What do you mean?" Ike asked, taken aback at the sudden question.

"_**Why are you going through so much effort?**_" was the first question before Volug realized he spoke in the ancient tongue. "Coming...here. Just to lea...learn with me?"

The former mercenary looked thoughtful for a few moments before giving him a small smile. "Well, it's because...back then, before the tower, you were really interested in learning, weren't you? When I had mentioned it, you just looked so...I don't know, eager. Like you really wanted me to help teach you."

Volug looked surprised. "_**Did I really seem that way...?**_" he wondered. "Um...that's all?"

"Well, besides wanting to see Hatari, yeah," Ike admitted, placing Ragnell off to the side as he sat down against the side of a tree. Volug followed, sitting cross-legged in front of him, his eyes still locked to his own. "I've been traveling the countries recently. I was planning on leaving for a journey to see new lands, but I realized I never saw Hatari. I remembered that we still had that promise to teach each other...and, honestly, I don't really have anything else I can do peacefully. I can't be a mercenary, and I can't stay on Tellius, so..."

"I understand," Volug muttered. Ike might have had a slightly selfish reason for wanting to learn, but to be honest...he was the only one that the wolf wanted to learn from. "Please...teach. Teach me...to speak like you."

Ike raised an eyebrow. "A lot of people think my way of speaking is crude," he remarked with good humor.

Volug snorted. "_**What's wrong with being like that? Nothing at all,**_" he seemed to huff before nodding. "Don't care."

Ike actually laughed. "Alright then, it's a deal! In return, I ask that you be patient with me as I try to speak like you. The ancient tongue is a lot more difficult than I imagined."

This time, it was Volug who looked amused. "_**And you say that you're the one that's crude?**_" he asked with a light smile. "...okay."

They didn't know it yet, but their talk right then and there created the bond of friendship between them.


	2. II: Arcana 0: The Fool

Their lessons together continued every day, and each day Ike felt his knowledge deepening, his understanding becoming clearer. While he was still far off from actually speaking coherent sentences, he didn't stumble over letters as much as he did on the first day.

After giving them instruction in their first few lessons together, Nailah left the rest up to the two, telling them she was expecting great progress. Ike later realized that the wolf queen had another purpose in mind when she had wholeheartedly approved of their desire to learn another language; she was using the opportunity to observe how to best teach the whole populace of Hatari the modern language. More than once did Nailah comment to him that she intended to migrate her whole country over to Tellius in the near future; Ike supposed that teaching them the modern language would be a step in that direction.

Much to both Nailah's and Rafiel's surprise, Volug was working just as hard learning the modern language as Ike was learning the old. Whenever he was talking with Ike, he'd always attempt to use the modern tongue to see if Ike could understand him. Whenever Ike replied that he could, Volug looked more satisfied than anything before attempting even more sentences, each one getting progressively more complex.

The two had managed to work out a schedule of sorts for each day. In the early morning, Ike would tutor Volug over pronunciation and several words. Oftentimes, he'd ask the wolf to repeat a sentence he had just uttered, correcting him whenever he strayed from how it was meant to be said. Rafiel had also generously provided him with scrolls he had written himself, giving translations of certain phrases that Volug could look over.

After that, they would usually break for a while, with both of them tending to their own affairs. Ike would use the time to train, while Volug would either go hunting for food or do other things. Lately, he had been taking to watching Ike practice, usually shifting to his wolf form and laying down on the grass as he watched. Ike had no idea why the wolf did so, but didn't really mind the company.

As the afternoon would start, it would be Ike's turn to go over the ancient language. Volug would do his best to assist, helping Ike with how a word was pronounced, or slowly guiding him through saying simple phrases in the ancient dialect. More often than not, Rafiel would assist when Volug didn't know how to explain something, usually showing both of them certain ways to make it easier on themselves.

What they would do each night varied. Sometimes they chose to rest after such an intense lesson. Sometimes they went to find something else to do. However, a lot of the time, they would keep studying and teaching each other, even into the early hours of the morning. They never meant to lose track of time, but if they could keep saying one more phrase, perfecting one more word...

As their lessons continued, Ike found his friendship with Volug growing, with the wolf speaking more and more often with him. Usually, Volug would utter some kind of sarcastic or snide remark about something they were reading, and Ike would either chuckle or respond back with another remark. Their bantering really helped Ike get a feel on Volug's personality--while he was blunt and had a crude sense of humor, he was always honest with him and was always curious about certain things.

The former mercenary was glad to have such a good relationship with the wolf, as he turned out to be one of the people he talked to the most. It had been a few months since he had arrived in Hatari, and their friendship only deepened as the weeks wore on...

* * *

"_**...Doubt the Sun does not move, doubt truth to be a liar...**_" Ike recited in ancient tongue, his eyes following the text Nailah had lent him. "_**But...**_I can't read the rest of it," he sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I guess I'm too tired."

Volug looked over his shoulder at what the the beorc was reading. "_**But don't doubt that I love,**_" the wolf finished for him, snorting a bit. "Why must we read po...poe...this?" he asked, unsure of how to say the next word.

"Poetry?" Ike asked, knowing full well that was the word the wolf wanted. At Volug's nod, he shrugged. "Dunno, but Nailah seems to think it will help me with the language faster."

The wolf seemed to roll his eyes at that. "_**If it could, I would have brought the whole library in here to shove down your throat,**_" he remarked wryly.

Ike raised an eyebrow. "_**Oh, really? Would that mean I would have to cross the de...**_" Frowning, Ike tried to remember that word, scowling when he couldn't seem to pronounce it.

"_**Desert,**_" Volug supplied helpfully, getting a thankful nod from the beorc.

"As I was saying..._**Desert of Death to find a beorc library, and then cross it again so I could shove meaningless poetry down your throat?**_" he finished with a smirk. Both he and Volug had taken to switching between talking between modern and ancient tongue, as a way of acquainting themselves with the more complex parts of the one they were learning. Whenever one stumbled, the other would quickly correct them, and it worked out to their benefit.

Volug seemed to laugh at that. "You can try," he said with amused smile. "I'd probably bite your hand off."

"_**You probably would,**_" Ike noted dryly. "I'll need my hand, thanks."

There was a bit of silence between them as Ike continued looking over the text in front of him, poetry written all in the ancient language. After a few minutes, he finally had to shut it, as it was giving him a headache. "Well, I'm done for the night."

"_**Had enough of reciting that garbage?**_" Volug asked with a raised eyebrow.

"_**Definitely. Although I don't know why you call it garbage,**_" Ike replied. It was times like this that it amazed him that he could converse like this in another language, and how he had come so far in learning it. He still had a long way to go to perfecting it, but for simple, idle conversation like this, it was enough. "_**I wonder where Queen Nailah got all of these books. She doesn't strike me as a reader...**_"

Volug seemed to huff, frowning. "It's because Her Majesty really isn't much of a read...reader," he corrected himself, still stumbling over some words. It also amazed Ike that after a few months of constant learning and practice, Volug was able to carry on a conversation with him in the modern tongue. "Prince Rafiel usually reads all of those books."

"Really?" Ike asked, examining the worn leather of the book. "He must have found them interesting...or he was really bored."

The wolf shrugged. "_**Who can say?**_" he commented, settling down into another chair as he took care to avoid smashing his tail. "_**Although I can say for sure that reading books like a pedant is not for me. Too stuffy**_."

Ike nodded, having caught enough of the words to know that Volug didn't like reading all that much. It brought up another question, however. "Volug...I have to wonder. With how well you seem to be getting the modern tongue right now, how come you didn't learn it before?"

The wolf sat up a bit straighter, a frown on his face. Ike got the feeling he asked something he shouldn't have, considering the way Volug's gaze fell to the floor. "It's because...I wasn't interested. That's all," he finally muttered.

"Huh..." Ike let out, watching Volug's expression. "I would have thought that Rafiel would have offered to teach you."

"_**He did,**_" Volug responded, slipping into the ancient tongue again. "_**But I was not interested in learning a language I would never have to use. What was the point?**_"

Ike thought it over. "Well, I guess I can see why that makes sense," he said after a few moments of thinking. Why learn something if you never have to do it?

"But then..." Volug shifted a bit nervously, his ears twitching again. "I came to Tellius."

"When you met Micaiah?" Ike asked, and the wolf nodded. He hadn't heard all the details, but Rafiel and the two wolves were discovered by Micaiah and Sothe, and the latter had apparently recommended them to him so he could take them to Gallia. "So...what happened after that?"

"_**Nothing of interest, but...I found myself...irritated that I couldn't seem to converse with anyone other than Micaiah,**_" Volug continued, a deep frown on his features. "_**I knew what everyone was saying, but I could not talk to anyone else. It didn't matter, in any case; most of the troops already thought I was strange at that point, so talking to them was pointless.**_"

Although Ike couldn't fully understand the entirety of what Volug had just told him, he nodded. "_**Why did you talk to me, then?**_"

Volug paused. "I...don't know," he admitted. "I had the sudden urge to try and be helpful, so when I saw you, I wanted to give you that...el..._elixir_," he finally got out after Ike mouthed the word to him. "But then I realized that I still couldn't speak to you. I felt stupid."

Ike gulped. "_**Was that why you looked so...happy when I mentioned that we could learn each other's languages together?**_" he finally asked.

The wolf look startled. "_**How did you-?**_"

"I could see it in your eyes," Ike explained. "You tried to seem impassive, and I wasn't really the best at reading people, but I felt like I could understand that."

Volug continued to stare at him, his mouth open, but no words coming out. "I...I see," he finally mumbled, hastily standing up. "I have to go. Please excuse me..." Before Ike could say anything, Volug shifted into his wolf form and ran out of the room.

"_**Wait, Volug!**_" Ike called out, even though he knew it was futile. Just what had gotten into him? Did he inadvertently say something that his friend didn't like? _I hope he's okay..._ he thought as he shelved the book, deciding to retire for the night now that Volug ran out on him. Hopefully the next day would explain everything.

* * *

Unfortunately, Volug didn't show up for the lesson the next morning, which worried Ike. He was convinced that he had accidentally brought up a painful memory for the laguz, so he had to find him so he could apologize. The thought of actually offending his friend had definitely worried him, and so he went out searching the palace grounds to search for him.

"Ah, Ike," he heard Nailah call as she walked up to him, exiting one of the corridors and into the outside air. "I didn't expect to see you here. Aren't you and Volug supposed to be teaching each other right about now?"

The expectant look on the Queen's face made Ike reconsider lying to her. "Yeah, we are. It's just Volug hasn't shown up yet," he explained, causing Nailah's visible eye to widen slightly.

"Is that so? That's unusual..." she remarked, crossing her arms. "I know for a fact he wouldn't willingly make himself absent. I wonder what's happened?"

"About that..." Ike started, somewhat nervous. How would the Queen take it? "I think I might have said something last night that he probably didn't take too well."

Nailah raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I was unaware that Volug could be offended by anything," she said, actually looking curious. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't so much me doing something than saying something I had no idea about," Ike admitted. "We were just talking last night, and then I asked him about why he didn't try to learn the language sooner, as I thought he was a natural at it. When he told me why, we talked about how it was when he came to Tellius, and then I asked him about that time in the manse. He told me why he wanted to give me that elixir that day, and then I asked him if that was why he looked so happy when I suggested that we learn each other's language. After I said that, he just...clammed up and left in a hurry. I really hope I didn't say anything that he--" Ike then paused, staring strangely at Nailah. "Are you _laughing_, Queen Nailah?"

Nailah held up a hand, her other covering her mouth to try and hold back the laughter that threatened to escape. "N-no," she managed to say before she managed to compose herself, although the wide grin on her face never left. "It's just...wow, I can't believe he'd get worked up over that. Puts a whole new perspective on things, that's for sure."

Ike blinked. "Uh, could you please explain? Because I'm not getting you."

Nailah chuckled before stopping, making sure she wasn't going into full-out laughter before she explained. "Ike, you didn't offend him, if that's what you're worried about," she started, still smiling. "Rather, he just got _embarrassed_. And here I thought he was a stick in the mud."

"Huh? Embarrassed?" Ike repeated, at a loss for words. "Why?"

The wolf queen shrugged. "That pup just has too much pride, in my opinion. He's unused to such intimacy, so he got completely flustered when you read his feelings so easily," she remarked with a grin. "I didn't think he could get embarrassed about _anything_. You really are quite a surprise, Ike."

"Wait, wait. Slow down. You're saying I embarrassed him?" Ike questioned, his head spinning.

"Of course not. He's just not used to dealing with a situation like this," Nailah repeated, a fond smile on her face. "But then again, he's still only a pup. I'm glad he's learning from you."

"So he's still rather young? I never knew that," Ike mentioned, getting a chuckle from the wolf queen. "But from the way you speak, you sound like you've raised him."

"And you'd be correct," Nailah confirmed with a nod. "His parents fell ill shortly after his birth, so I took him in as a favor. They passed away shortly after that, and I raised him accordingly. I wouldn't call myself his mother, but...a parental figure would fit better."

"I see," Ike nodded. "I should go find him and apologize anyway. I didn't mean to get him all flustered. Thank you for telling me all this, Queen Nailah," he thanked before he left in search for his friend.

Nailah stared after Ike, watching him run off into one of the gardens. "Such an interesting beorc is only found once in a lifetime," she sighed wistfully. "Volug is in good hands."

* * *

Thankfully, Ike did find the wolf a few minutes later, back in the meadow he first found him in when he had arrived in Hatari. Volug was still in his wolf form, laying down on the grass and rest his head in his paws. It struck Ike that the wolf seemed distracted, as Volug made no indication of acknowledging that he was there.

"Hey Volug," he greeted as he walked in, sitting down beside the wolf. The laguz lifted his head and stared at Ike in mild surprise, having apparently snapped out of whatever daze he was in. "How are you?"

He didn't get an answer, nor did Volug revert back to his beorc state. Ike sighed; it seemed that his friend was more perturbed than he thought.

"I want to say something," he said to the wolf, looking down at Volug's face. "_**I'm sorry.**_"

This time, there was a reaction as Volug's head snapped up to look at him. He reverted in the next moment, violet eyes wide. "Why are you saying that?" Volug asked, his voice low.

The blue-haired man shrugged. "Because of last night. I didn't mean to make you feel embarrassed or anything. But since I did, I feel bad about it. Especially since you didn't show up for our lesson this morning."

"Ah..." Volug then looked away, trying to think of what to say. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I shouldn't have run out like that. I was being stupid again," he muttered.

Ike was curious. "How so?" he queried.

For the first time, Volug had a small blush on his cheeks, as if he were really embarrassed. "It's...because, well...um..." he sputtered, looking too flustered to say anything, a scowl forming on his face.

"_**You can tell me about it. I'm not going to laugh or anything, if you're worried about that,**_" Ike reassured, patting Volug on the shoulder. The wolf looked at him for a few moments before nodding.

"Thanks," he muttered. "_**I was embarrassed because I thought you would think me strange as well,**_" he admitted, sighing. "_**I am not the most sociable person, even here. Not many make an attempt to talk with me.**_" He paused for a moment to lean back against one of the trees, his tail swishing to the side of him. "_**And then you came along and spent this much time with me. Teaching. Learning. It was overwhelming. When you told me about how happy I looked that one time we talked, before the tower...I didn't understand. But now...I really do think I was happy. Happy that you didn't think me odd or strange or...anything.**_"

"Volug..." How was Ike supposed to respond to that? He had no idea that his friend had felt that way since then. Finally, he smiled. "I'm happy, as well."

Volug looked at him curiously. "What?"

"I'm happy that I'm learning the ancient language. That I'm teaching you the modern tongue. I'm happy because I made a great friend," Ike chuckled. "Now that I can understand you, Volug...I'm very happy that our friendship has deepened this much. Don't you feel the same way?"

The wolf stared at him, completely shocked. "You're...happy?" he tentatively asked, his ears twitching. When Ike nodded, he blinked rapidly, shaking his head slowly. "I...I'm happy too. Being friends, I mean."

Ike grinned. "Glad to hear it. So, apology accepted?" he asked, holding out a hand.

Volug looked at the hand for a brief moment before grasping it, giving it a firm shake. It was the first time Ike had truly seen him smile. "Indeed. Mine and yours."

* * *

Months passed by in a blink of an eye. After that day, the two found themselves getting closer and closer. It was hard to find a time when either of them was away from the other, and if there was, it was only brief. Nailah was actually highly amused by their situation, calling each of them the shadow of the other. Rafiel seemed to smile knowingly at that, yet he never said a word.

Their lessons only intensified. Each day, they would talk to each other constantly in both languages, their mistakes and slip-ups becoming rarer and rarer. Much to Ike's surprise, Volug started to use the modern tongue almost exclusively when talking to him, only going back into the ancient language when he was helping Ike. Even Nailah was surprised by it, but she then mentioned that it wasn't so shocking after thinking about it some more. "The modern tongue was made to help everyone, most notably the laguz of Tellius, understand each other better," she had explained. "It is most definitely the easier of the two languages to actually speak, once you've learned them both."

Aside from their lessons together, Ike had invited Volug to train with him. He was quite interested in how the wolf fought, not having the chance to watch him more closely during the war. Likewise, Volug had yet to face a swordsman on Ike's level; if Nailah had been interested in fighting the beorc before, it spoke multitudes of his friend's strength. So every day thereafter, the two trained and sparred together, both of them finding it a good workout.

Life in Hatari had been pleasant for Ike, who had finally learned enough of the ancient tongue to go out and interact with the locals, Volug at his side the whole time. They were nice enough people, even though they were suspicious of him at first for being an outsider. Eventually, they warmed up to him, nodding in greeting whenever he had the urge to walk through the town.

As the months went on and the seasons changed, they diverted their attention to reading and writing the different languages. Who knew when there would come a time where they would have to do so in the future? Even though saying the letters and actually writing them were different, Ike found that being able to speak the ancient tongue first helped him remember which symbols corresponded to what he said.

Volug had a few more troubles than that, however. It was one day during the winter afternoon that Ike first noticed.

* * *

Ike blinked as he looked at the scrap of paper Volug had been writing on. "Er...Volug, I can't read this," he remarked, actually turning the piece of parchment sideways to see if he could read it better. Sadly enough, he could.

Volug frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked somewhat indignantly. "I know I phrased it right. You've been drilling it into me every day, after all."

"It's not that," Ike corrected hastily, looking sheepish. "It's...well...how should I explain it?" he wondered.

"Just spit it out," the wolf grumbled irritably. He hated it when someone skirted around the issue.

The beorc sighed. "Your handwriting. It's completely unreadable," Ike finally pointed out, turning the parchment over and showing the wolf. Volug looked at it again and could barely contain a wince himself; while he _had_ phrased the sentence correctly, the way the letters looked...

"It's not completely unreadable!" the wolf protested, snatching the parchment out of Ike's hands and trailing over the words. "See, I can read it! All you have to do is read over it several times to get it. Well...maybe more than that. Wait...what does this say again?" he asked himself, growling a bit when he realized he couldn't read his own handwriting.

Ike shook his head in sympathy. "I take it you never held a quill before in your life, have you?" he asked, looking straight at the wolf. Volug had crumpled the piece of parchment up and thrown it elsewhere, looking disgusted. "You don't have to lie to me."

"I wonder when you became so good at reading me, even though you say you can't," the wolf said sarcastically, getting a shrug from Ike. "Tell me, why would I ever need to write something? We wolves communicate fine on our own," Volug explained, crossing his arms. "When in this form, we communicated with the ancient tongue. In our laguz form, we understood each other with our howls. That's how it's always been."

"Alright, I get it," Ike acknowledged, sitting down by the wolf. "But I would imagine that some of them still wrote stuff down."

"They did, but the beorc were much better suited to recording stuff and writing books. That's why Queen Nailah has a whole bunch of beorc scholars to do that for her," Volug clarified. "I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the other wolves never wrote something before. We've had no need to."

Ike glanced at the piece of parchment again, a thoughtful look on his face. "There might come a time where you're going to have to write something down," he said gently. "Even if it's only a small note or something."

Volug grunted. "I know," he muttered, picking up the quill again and dipping it in ink. "It's still irritating, though."

Ike watched as Volug began to write something again, paying careful attention to how the wolf was writing. "Wait, Volug," he said suddenly, stopping the wolf. "I think I see why it's coming out that way. It's the way you're writing."

The wolf looked up, his ears twitching. "The way I'm writing?" he repeated, curious.

"Yeah. See, I had a problem like this a few years ago, during the first war," Ike told him, making his way closer to the laguz. "Aside from battle, I had all sorts of duties...one of them was making written reports on various things. A general had to make a lot of written orders, as well as verbal ones...or at least, that's what Titania and Soren had told me."

Volug listened attentively. "What does this have to do with what I'm doing?" he asked somewhat impatiently.

"I'm getting to it! Well, when I actually had to write things down, you could say that my handwriting...wasn't the best. Soren had even called it atrocious," he chuckled, Volug's eyes not leaving his. "Eventually, he pulled me aside and forcibly showed me how to make my writing legible. And I did pick up on it, with enough practice."

"So...you're saying your own writing was horrid too. That's...actually pretty funny," Volug remarked, a slow smile coming to his face. "You're good with a sword but not a quill?"

Ike rolled his eyes. "I'm a swordsman, not a pedant," he retorted. "Just like you, up until that point I really had no reason to practice my handwriting. However, I did learn that it is important, so I brushed up on it. The same should apply for you."

Volug huffed slightly, frowning a bit. "I suppose," he finally agreed. "If you really think it will help."

Ike nodded. "Of course it will," he assured him. "Anyway...you need to learn how to steady your hand when writing. Let me help." Before Volug could comprehend what his friend was doing, Ike had leaned over and grasped his right hand, moving his fingers so he was holding the quill correctly. "There."

"Ike?" Volug questioned softly, his tail having stiffened in surprise. "What are you doing?"

"Helping you write, of course," Ike replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, as I was saying, you have to keep your hand steady while you're writing. It's best to slow down when you're doing it, and once you're used to writing it, you'll be able to do it without any problems. Let me show you." He then moved Volug's hand in the gesture of writing something, a neat letter being written where he had moved it. "See?"

Volug stared at the letter printed on the parchment, his gaze then moving towards his hand, which Ike still held gently in his grasp. "Y-yeah, I do," he quickly muttered. He wasn't embarrassed about not being able to write as well as Ike, but something about the situation...it made him squirm in his seat. He didn't know if it was the fact that he could feel Ike's fingers curled around his own or the fact that he was watching Ike's every movement with his sharp eyes. The wolf gulped, blinking a bit. _What's wrong with me?_

Ike seemed to notice Volug's sudden hesitation, stopping for a moment. "Are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"Huh?" Volug murmured before realizing Ike had asked him something. "Oh. I'm okay. Just...thinking on some stuff. Let's continue," he reassured his friend, and Ike nodded as he continued to guide Volug's hand into writing the letters.

Something about the whole situation made Volug feel _weird_, but it felt...nice, somehow.

* * *

Winter passed into Spring, and the weather began to warm up again. As the flowers began to bloom, Ike and Volug spent nearly every day with each other in lessons, in sparring, and even just relaxing. After countless months of their lessons together, they had achieved near-complete fluency in the languages they were learning, and both of them had a deep friendship. They could read and write each other's language with little difficulty, and the other was right there when they had a little trouble.

Nailah had been completely impressed by the two when she checked up on them. "You two are completely amazing," she praised, getting a deep bow from Volug and a nod from Ike. "I do believe you managed to do it faster than I did. It's not often when I'm beaten at anything," she said in amusement.

"I don't think it was a competition, Queen Nailah," Rafiel commented from next to her. "Still, it usually takes a long, long time for anyone to learn a language, especially the ancient tongue. It's hard to believe that you were so determined to learn it, Sir Ike."

Ike shrugged. "I had a great teacher, that's why," he remarked, getting a snort from Volug.

"I'm pretty good, aren't I?" the wolf asked dryly, getting a chuckle from Nailah. "But I wouldn't have made it this far without Ike either."

"Indeed, he is a great teacher," Nailah said. "When the whole of Hatari starts to learn the modern tongue, I'll have to hope they're half as dedicated as you two. I do want to get to Tellius sometime before I grow old."

"I'd imagine," Ike chuckled with a wry smile. "Thanks for the compliments, Queen Nailah."

Volug nodded as well, shifting a bit uncomfortably as Nailah gave him a knowing stare, not saying anything.

After that, the two had done many things together, even if it was something mundane like resting under the shade of a tree together. Life was definitely pleasant for the both of them, and it seemed that things would continue like this for a long, long time.

However, it had never been Ike's intention to settle down in Hatari. That was why, barely a year after he had arrived there, he made a decision.

* * *

"Haa!"

Volug growled as Ike forced him away, landing on his side painfully. With a slight whimper, he forced himself up to his feet, reverting back to his beorc form. "_**I still don't know why you're so freakishly skilled,**_" he complained, rubbing his shoulder, where Ike had gotten in a few hits. "_**Ugh, I can't ever seem to win against you. Why is that?**_"

Ike chuckled as he and Volug moved under the shade of a nearby tree, wiping his face with a towel. "_**I'm sure you'll be able to beat me in time. I think you're still unused to fighting someone on my level, though,**_" he answered back smoothly, unable to speak without an accent. "_**You'll get used to it eventually.**_"

Volug seemed to snort. "It feels like it'll take forever at that rate," he said dryly, getting another laugh from Ike. The wolf hated to admit it, but Ike had won every sparring match they had. Even though the wolf had power and size on his side, he was actually unused to certain fighting styles--like Ike's--and his defeat at each session really drove home that there were definitely a lot of powerful beorc out there. He was slowly getting used to fighting Ike, but it wouldn't be for a while until he had the necessary skill to defeat his friend.

"Don't say that. You'll be able to do anything once you set your mind on it. With enough practice, you'll probably beat me in a spar someday," Ike reassured him, getting a slight smile from the wolf. That had been true, with the way they had gone about learning the languages. It was nice to entertain the idea of eventually beating Ike within a few months, but he knew it wouldn't be for some time to come--possibly once Ike was out of his youth.

"Whatever," Volug shrugged off. "But sparring against you makes me stronger. I like that."

"Who doesn't?" Ike wondered, laying back against the tree. "If you know you're getting stronger, you know you're still improving. And if you know _that_, then you're definitely better than the people who don't know their own limits."

Volug looked over at him curiously. "Does that go for you beorc as well?"

"It goes for everybody," Ike clarified. "If someone doesn't know the limits of their own strength, they'll always lose to someone that does. Remember about how I told you about King Skrimir and how he faced General Zelgius in the war?" Volug nodded at that, remembering what Ike had told him. Skrimir, being a lion, had foolishly thought his might would triumph over Zelgius, a mere beorc. Had he been smarter and had known his own strength, he would have seen that he had been completely outmatched from the start. "If you don't know your own limits and skills, what will happen once you fight an incredibly skilled adversary? You've more than likely gone up against some of those, haven't you?"

The wolf nodded, looking thoughtful. Ike definitely had a point. "A few, during the war," he admitted. "When...when you stormed that castle back in Daein, with all those other laguz, I managed to get a good look at you for the first time," he said, his violet eyes staring into Ike's blue ones. "You looked so fierce. So powerful. The way you effortlessly killed enemy soldiers was startling. When I saw you, I'll admit that I wanted to rush at you to try and end the whole thing, but...it's strange," he commented, Ike's attention solely on him. "I didn't know why, but something was telling me to stop and retreat. That I wouldn't be able to defeat you. I was perplexed, but I knew I couldn't take my chances in that fight. But now that you've told me all this, I think that was my instinct telling me that I wasn't strong enough to fight you yet. It would have been a tough fight, but now I know I would have been killed had I gone against you then."

Ike nodded sagely, a small grin on his face. "You see what I'm talking about?" he asked with a somewhat smug tone, earning him a small whap from Volug's tail. "That feeling back then probably saved your life. It's as Titania once told me—a true warrior will know their limits of what they can do, and retreat is in no way dishonorable. "

"The beorc take their fighting seriously, don't they?" Volug wondered, staring off into the blue sky. "I guess the laguz do the same as well. We have a lot of pride to spare, though."

Ike raised an eyebrow. "Like how Skrimir used to be?" he teased.

Volug looked scandalized. "Of course not!" he scoffed. "But we're still proud. I don't think we'd back down from a fight once we got into one. I know I certainly wouldn't have."

"_Wouldn't have_?" Ike repeated, a small smile on his face. "Care to elaborate?"

The wolf rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean," he grumbled, a small smile coming to his face as well. "I'm not going to turn tail and run from fights, but I think I can learn when to back off. I think you taught me that."

"Ah," Ike let out, sighing a bit. "Another thing, huh?"

"You've taught me a lot," Volug continued. "I think a lot of my views have changed. Now that I'm actually speaking your language...I can now understand a lot more than before. So...thank you...teacher."

Ike looked surprised. Such sentimentality from the wolf was rare. "Mm. You were a good teacher as well, Volug. I was glad to be your student," he chuckled.

For a time, they just sat there in relative peace, saying nothing as they continued to enjoy each other's presence. Finally, Ike seemed to let out a long sigh, looking over at his friend.

"Volug?"

"Yeah?" the wolf responded, opening one eye to look at the beorc.

Ike turned away, closing his eyes. "You probably already know this, but...I'm going to leave soon," he told the wolf, not looking at him.

Volug sat silent, already having known of it beforehand. Ike had expressed his desire to other lands before, and it was only a matter of time before his wanderlust surfaced again. "...why?" he asked lowly, still wanting to voice the question.

"Why not?" Ike retorted. "There's still so much for me to see out there. I like Hatari and all, but...I can't settle down yet."

"...I see," Volug murmured quietly. It wasn't surprising that Ike held no desire to live in Hatari, given how Nailah wanted to migrate across the desert and all. But for some strange reason, the wolf felt compelled to try and stop him, to get him to stay. "Do you really have to do it?"

For a few moments, Ike didn't answer. "Do I have to? Probably not," he finally admitted. "Do I want to? Yes."

There was Volug's answer. No matter what he would say, Ike would leave regardless. Somehow, the thought made him feel weak. "When are you going to leave?"

"Next week," was the answer. "I'm going to go back to Tellius, visit a few friends, and then find a boat to sail out to the seas with. There has to be land beyond them. Yune hinted strongly at it."

The thought of Ike leaving had struck Volug hard, but he forced it down, remaining calm. "I'm...going to miss you," he finally forced out, being completely honest with the man he considered his best friend. "I really will."

"I'm going to miss you a lot as well, Volug," Ike replied back, a soft smile on his face. "Thank you for everything. Your friendship has really meant a lot to me."

Volug didn't say anything more after that, his ears lowering. He didn't trust himself to speak after that.

* * *

A few days went by, and neither Ike or Volug saw much of each other. Ike was busy making his preparations to leave, going out in the town and seeing what essentials he had to take. Volug, however, was listless and distracted. He knew the reason was related to Ike leaving, but he thought he had already come to terms with it. Whatever he was doing, he couldn't keep his focus; anything he kept trying to do kept reminding him of the blue-haired beorc.

He then consulted with Queen Nailah, seeking her advice. The first thing she did was let out a sharp laugh, followed up with one of the most smug grins he had ever seen on her face.

"You have it bad, don't you Volug?" she asked with an amused smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Your Majesty," he replied back, keeping his face straight.

"Oh please," Nailah scoffed. "Look at you. Your tail is twitching irritably. Your face looks distracted. You haven't done anything but think of Ike's imminent departure for the past week. If that doesn't say anything, I don't know what does."

"I believe you're just reading too much into the situation, Your Majesty," Volug remarked with a frown, even though the wolf queen had been largely right.

"I could always have Rafiel tell me your real feelings."

"You wouldn't," Volug gasped.

Nailah shrugged. "Volug, just admit it. You're in love with Ike, aren't you? Don't try to hide it, I know when you lie."

Volug pursed his lips. "My Queen, Ike is my best friend. Whether or not I'm in love with him doesn't matter."

Nailah sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. "I never imagined you to be so _dense_," she groaned. "You might not realize it, or you just don't want to admit it, but you're in love with him. You can't hide it either; both Rafiel and I have seen it over the course of the year he's been here. Can you really say that you'd be alright with him leaving with a straight face?"

"I..." Volug paused, hesitating. The truth was, he definitely _wasn't_ okay with Ike up and leaving.

"See?" Nailah pointed out, smirking. "You don't want him to leave. Or, rather...you want to be with him wherever he goes, right?"

Volug looked up, shocked. "Your Majesty, are you insinuating that I would leave you and follow him?" he gasped, looking affronted. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" Nailah asked. Her tail was swaying lightly, almost as if she was amused by their whole talk. "He could certainly use the company where he's going. I'd imagine a journey across the seas would be pretty lonely, wouldn't you say?"

"That has nothing to do with it," Volug protested, shifting nervously when Nailah glanced at him.

"It has everything to do with it," the wolf queen corrected. "Are you really going to let him leave? I can assure you that if you do, you're going to spend the rest of your life with regrets. Are you sure you can live with knowing that you'd never see him again?"

"He can come back!" Volug exclaimed, his violet eyes squinting in frustration. "He can always come back! He'd be able to come back to Hatari, I know--"

"Volug," Nailah interrupted softly. "Ike wouldn't be able to come back to Hatari. Neither his place nor his heart is here. You know that."

Volug's ears lowered as he scowled, looking at the ground. His eyes burned for some strange reason, and he had the urge to wipe them with his arm.

Nailah looked at her subject for a long moment before sighing. "So, let me ask again. Are you alright with him leaving?" she asked, a slight edge to her voice. She wanted an honest answer from the tanned man, and she would get it.

"...no. I don't want him to," Volug admitted, not looking his queen in the eye. "But he is intent on leaving. I cannot stop him."

"And you're just going to let him leave," Nailah stated, still staring at Volug.

"I will. It's what he wants," the wolf answered.

Nailah rubbed her temples with her hand. "This discussion isn't about what _he_ wants," she stressed, crossing her arms. "It's about what _you_ want. Tell me again. What do you really want to do?"

Volug grit his teeth. _What does she think I want to do?!_ he screamed in his mind, but he forced himself to remain calm, his gaze still locked to the floor. "What I want is irrelevant. I am your loyal subject to the end," he muttered.

"Again with this? I can't believe you," Nailah snorted in disgust. "Volug, listen to me, and listen well. You love him. You want to be with him. You can't imagine letting him go. If you took a good look at yourself right now, you'd realize that. Butyou're denying what the facts are telling you. Are you going to continue living your life this blindly? You're not this stupid. I raised you better than that."

"My Queen..." Volug whispered. Blinking a bit, he felt a strange wetness around his eyes, slowly trailing down his cheeks. "Your Majesty, my place is with you. Nothing will move me."

Nailah raised an eyebrow. "Your place," she said slowly, a solemn smile on her face, "is with Ike."

Volug's head snapped up, completely shocked. "Queen Nailah...?" he sputtered. There was no mistaking the command in her voice, and what it conveyed. "You...you're not...serious..."

The wolf queen only nodded. "It's only when their cub moves on with their life does a mother know both true happiness and pain. I wonder if that's what it feels like right now?" she wondered, chuckling a bit. "Volug. I will give you all that you need for wherever you may go. For both of you. I can only wish you happiness from here on."

Volug could only keep staring at Nailah in shock. "I...Your Majesty, I can't..." he mumbled, unable to form a coherent phrase with how shocked he was. The only thing that he could realize at that moment was the fact that Nailah had released him from his service to her, and had given him her blessings with Ike.

When he felt Nailah's hand on his shoulder, he couldn't help but blink rapidly, tears coursing down his cheeks. "...Queen Nailah...thank you. Thank you...so much..." he choked out.

Nailah nodded, a forlorn look in her visible eye. "Live without regrets. That's the one thing I've always said to you. Remember it," she instructed. "Life's too short for any of us to dwell on it."

* * *

Ike had been busy finalizing his preparations, buying supplies from the local market in the meanwhile. His own mind was kept busy of where he wanted to go and how to get to a certain place after he crossed the Desert of Death again, and just like before, he had started feeling excited about leaving on a journey. Who knew what waited out there?

As he went back to his room that night, he realized he hadn't seen Volug all day. He had grown used to the wolf being near his side for so long, that walking or going anywhere knowing he was elsewhere felt...strange. _He's probably not taking it very well,_ he thought, frowning. Both of them had grown close to each other in the course of the year, and Ike had certainly grown fond of Volug. However, he knew that the wolf wouldn't be able to just leave Hatari--he was in service to its queen, after all.

Still, Ike would be sad to leave him behind. It was strange to think that Volug had been such a constant in his life over the past year, and to suddenly leave without him was incredibly stupid. However, he realized that asking Volug to come with him would be selfish; what if Volug really wanted to stay in Hatari? What if his duties to Nailah were more important to him? If he asked that question and Volug refused...he didn't know how he would feel.

Which is why he felt that the best option was to not ask at all. He didn't like admitting it, but Soren deciding to leave with Stefan had left him lonely during his trip around Tellius. During that time, he had missed having someone to talk to, to relate to. He missed Soren's barbs about certain habits of his. He just missed everything about having a constant companion with him. He couldn't very well ask Volug to give everything up and come with him, just so he wouldn't be lonely.

_To avoid making Volug deal with a such a decision, I've decided to let myself be lonely anyway,_ he snorted mentally. _I really am a fool._

Volug would understand though. The wolf had always been one to get the point. _Still...am I happy with doing this?_ Ike suddenly thought, sitting down on his bed. _I let Soren go because I knew that it was the best for him. Can I let Volug go like that too?_ Shaking his head, he frowned. _I have to. I'm not going to let him give up everything just because I want him with me._

He wondered how the wolf would handle it, though. He wasn't completely dense, despite whatever people thought of him. Ike knew very well that Volug was very close to him, possibly even more than that. He couldn't deny his own feelings toward the wolf as well; their days together had really made him happy, and when Volug had opened up around him...it was an indescribable feeling, to be sure.

Did he really, truly want to leave his friend behind? The one that had taught him and learned beside him and had given him his friendship? Not for the first time since he had been planning on his departure, he doubted what he wanted to do. Did he want to ask Volug after all? _I can't..._

A sudden knock at his door interrupted him. "Come in!" he shouted, the creak of the door signaling that the person was doing just that. "Oh..."

Volug quietly closed the door behind him, staring at Ike. To the beorc, something was off; the wolf seemed more tense than normal, and actually looked fairly nervous about something. "Hey," he greeted, his tail flicking from side to side. To Ike, it seemed that it was twitching from nervousness, as Volug didn't seem to be paying it any mind."What are you doing?"

Ike nodded in greeting. "Nothing much. Just...getting ready, I suppose," he chuckled dryly. Volug didn't respond, a frown visible on his face. For some reason, just seeing Volug stare at him with those eyes of his made him feel uneasy, so he decided to change the topic. "So, what are you doing here? You usually don't come up to my room."

"Well..." the wolf started, biting his lip uncertainly. He didn't know how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Are you really so intent on doing this?" he finally asked, getting frustrated at himself for not being able to ask what he really wanted.

Ike stared at Volug, confused. "You mean leaving?" he asked, getting a quick nod. "Well, yeah. I've been planning on it for a few months."

"And you're set on it, aren't you?" the tanned man asked, getting a nod in response. "I see. But..." Volug then stopped, hesitating. _Can I really say it?_

"Volug?" Ike asked, looking concerned. "What is it?"

"...what I mean to say is...um..." the wolf mumbled beneath his breath before growling and clenching his fists. "Do you really want to go alone?!" he nearly shouted, taking Ike by surprise.

The beorc blinked rapidly, staring at Volug as the laguz stared at him expectantly. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you really going to go alone?" Volug demanded. "You're going to travel without anyone with you?"

"Volug?" Ike asked again, a bit taken aback by the wolf's outburst.

"You are, aren't you?" the wolf continued. "You're going to leave. You're just going go away and leave me here. You haven't even asked me if I wanted to come with you yet," he ranted, his ears pointed up, a near snarl on his face. "Why? You don't want me around? Just tell me to my face! It'd be a lot better than avoiding the issue like a coward!"

"Coward?" Ike sputtered indignantly as he rose up off the bed, scowling. "You're calling me a coward?"

"I am! You're acting like one!" Volug accused, turning towards the blue-haired man and scowling in frustration. "You didn't tell me outright, and you never even asked me if you wanted me to come with you!" he snapped, his tail now stiffening. "If you never bothered to ask me, how am I supposed to know what you're trying to do?!"

"Now hold on a minute!" Ike demanded, growling himself. "Don't you try and blame this all on me. You've made it perfectly clear before that you're loyal to Nailah!" he pointed out angrily. When Volug flinched, he continued, "Did you not think that I didn't want to force such a choice on you?! Me or your country? For the sake of the goddess, I'm not that selfish! I couldn't ask you, knowing that!"

"You still should have!" Volug insisted, grinding his teeth together. "It would have been easier!"

"For who?!" Ike growled. He didn't know why he felt so angry at the moment. "For me? For you?"

"I...I don't know!" Volug huffed. "But you should have just asked me. We both would have felt better, whatever the answer would have been," he finished, trying to calm down.

Ike scowled again, walking until he was right in front of the wolf, staring him in the face. "And how would you know that?" he asked lowly, forcing his anger down as he stared into those violet eyes. "How would you know that I wouldn't feel horrible if you said no?"

Volug took in a sharp breath. That was as good as an admission as any. "Because you don't know my real answer," he responded, not breaking his gaze. "Because you wouldn't know how devastated I would be once you left, and that I let you go."

Ike's eyes widened, a small gasp coming from his lips. _Is this how Volug really feels?_ he wondered, still unable to look away. While he knew that Volug was certainly attached to him, he didn't know that his feelings ran _that_ deeply.

For a few moments, no words were said as they just stared at each other, several emotions burning in their eyes. Neither one of them didn't know who moved first, but all of a sudden, their lips had connected, and Ike had wrapped his arms around the wolf's muscled body, kissing back deeply. Volug's tail wrapped around to brush at Ike's leg, running up and down as the two kissed. After what seemed like a long while, the two slowly broke off their kiss, still staring each other in the eyes as they breathed heavily.

"Volug..." Ike then said, gulping as he realized how it came out. It was almost needy. "Will you...will you come with me? Journey with me?" he asked, running his hands over the tribal tattoos that ran down Volug's arms.

The wolf quickly nodded. "Yes. I will," he said breathlessly. "I'll go with you wherever you want to go, Ike."

That was all that was needed to be said as Ike wrapped the wolf up in his arms again, embracing him and holding him close. Volug made no move to protest, only sighing in happiness and pressing his body against Ike's.

"_**Thank you,**_" Ike whispered in the wolf's ear, a small smile on his face.

"_**It's no problem,**_" Volug responded, leaning his head against Ike's shoulder. "_**It is definitely no problem at all...**_"

* * *

At the end of the week, both Ike and Volug said their farewells to Nailah and Rafiel. The wolf queen had wished them both the best, and gave both of them a rather feral smirk, which was apparently meant to suggest something. Neither Ike or Volug got much out of what she was trying to imply, but Rafiel merely sighed before wishing them happiness.

The two then took a few days to cross the Desert of Death before emerging in Tellius proper, glad to be back on solid ground. After resting in a nearby town, Ike decided to head straight for the Grann Desert, wanting to see how Soren was doing.

Volug scoffed. "We just crossed one desert and you want to cross another?" he snorted, getting a chuckle from Ike. "No wonder some laguz call you the craziest beorc they ever knew."

"We won't have to venture very far into it, if I remember correctly," Ike mused, ignoring the annoyed glance the wolf gave him. "From what Stefan had told me, I think I know where to go in the desert."

While Volug wasn't thrilled about going back out into another desert, he complied anyway as the two then traveled into the Grann Desert, fighting the hot sun and the desert winds while keeping a steady pace. Thankfully, their trip this time was unhindered by people wanting to kill them, and within half a day they had reached their destination.

Volug shook his body to get the grains of sand out of his fur before reverting back to his beorc state. "Is this it?" he asked, staring into the sparse grove of trees that grew out of a stone structure.

"I hope so," Ike muttered, looking around. "At least, from what Lethe told me a few years before, this is where she found him."

"So where do we go from here?" the wolf asked, peering out into the sands beyond the horizon. "We can't keep walking aimlessly without direction."

Ike frowned. "You're right. I wonder if we should keep moving this way?" he wondered, following Volug's gaze.

The wolf sighed in exasperation. "Maybe this Stefan person will magically pop up from the sands in front of us to greet us?" he said sarcastically.

"Hello! It's been a while, my friends!"

Both Ike and Volug looked up in shock as Stefan stood in front of them, smiling mysteriously and waving. The two of them stared at the green-haired man in disbelief before staring down at the sand at his feet, which looked untouched.

"You can't be serious," Volug deadpanned. _Did he really just pop out of the sand?_

Ike shrugged. "Well, at least he's here," he said with a slight laugh. Stepping forward, he extended a hand towards the swordmaster. "Well met, Stefan."

"The same to you, Ike," Stefan greeted, nodding his head as he shook his hand. He then looked towards Volug, who looked slightly bored at the exchange. "Oh, isthis one of the wolf laguz that fought with us in the last war? Incredible! I never thought I would get the chance to talk to one. Tell me, what's your name?"

"Volug," the tanned man grunted, cocking his head. "Quite the...lively place you live in."

"Isn't it?" Stefan responded, brushing off the sarcastic remark. "Anyway, if you're here, that must mean you want to see Soren, am I right?"

"That, and I thought it would be nice to see how you guys are doing," Ike replied, grinning back. "I have to admit though...part of the reason why I'm here is to spar with you again. I haven't had a good match in a long time."

"Oh, I can relate to that," Stefan agreed, nodding as he led the two of them through the desert. "I must admit, I am very curious about how you improved. I wonder, how much better than me are you?"

Ike shook his head. "Oh, stop kidding around. I'm nowhere near the best," he waved off, causing Volug to snort.

"I'm actually quite serious. I wasn't kidding when I said you would be the opponent I would dread to face for real, I'll have you know," Stefan pointed out. When Ike gave him a curious stare, he smiled. "But enough about that for now. Let me lead you into our colony, as you two must be tired. Make sure to follow closely now!"

As they followed Stefan, Volug leaned in close to Ike. "_**This man is so strange. I didn't even sense him when he appeared...was he really waiting in the sand for us?**_" he asked, genuinely curious.

Ike brought up a hand to stifle his laughter. "_**No, I don't think he was. He just knows the desert like the back of his hand,**_" he explained, getting a nod from the wolf. "_**He's a good guy...you just have to get used to his eccentricities.**_"

Volug looked thoughtful as they continued walking. "_**You sound eager to duel him.**_"

"_**I am. He's one of my teachers. I hold a lot of respect for him,**_" Ike replied, smiling a bit. "_**I think he's just joking about fearing my skills, to be honest. I'm sure he's a lot more powerful than he's let on.**_"

Volug snorted. "If you say so. I doubt anyone could beat you though."

Meanwhile, Stefan was looking back at them, surprise written all over his face as he scratched his chin. "He learned the ancient tongue? Amazing..." he breathed, looking very impressed. "With such dedication, I don't think I can stand a chance against him in battle. Still, I have to entertain the idea that I can, after all," he chuckled to himself, waiting for the two to catch up so he could continue leading them.

* * *

**Fun fact:** The poem Ike is reciting is actually in Path of Radiance, in the form of the ancient text on the background of the menu. Although Ike is only reciting a part of it...


	3. III: Arcana VII: The Chariot

The Branded colony, at first sight, reminded both of them of Hatari. There were some people milling about here and there, but for the most part, it was fairly silent and open. There were stone houses built in every place where there was solid ground, and there was even an oasis not too far from where they were standing.

"Welcome to our colony of outcasts!" Stefan announced as they arrived, not even having to turn back to see the slight awe on their faces. "Or former outcasts, I hope. It's a nice little village of those of us that bear the mark, but I don't think you would mind, right?"

Ike shrugged. "They're just ordinary people. Why would I mind?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Stefan gave him a small smile. "I know you wouldn't mind at all. That was directed more at your friend here," he mentioned, gesturing back towards Volug.

Volug's tail twitched irritably. "Why should I care?" he growled. "These so-called 'Branded' live in Hatari as well. I actually thought it was normal when I came to this continent the first time."

The swordmaster gave Volug an unreadable stare, one that was enough to make the wolf shift uncomfortably. "So, Hatari is like that, is it?" he finally asked, a solemn smile on his face. "I envy your people."

"Do you?" the wolf responded, flicking his tail in slight irritation. It seemed that there was still sand in it. "My people aren't all that special."

"Perhaps," Stefan said lightly, chuckling. "Anyway, where are my manners? Please, follow me. Soren is waiting in my house. Please follow me; it'll be the largest one you'll see here."

"_**From the way things look around here, I'm betting it's not all that large, personally,**_" Volug scoffed, getting a slight nudge from Ike, who didn't look pleased at what he said. "_**Alright, I get it. Sorry.**_"

A few minutes later found them in front of what was a significantly larger building than the rest, set at the far end of the oasis. Given the way the house was larger and its close proximity to the oasis, Ike assumed that it signified Stefan's status among the colony.

The swordmaster seemed to catch the appraising look on Ike's face as he looked over his shoulder. "This is actually the second house I've lived in here," he explained without being asked, getting both of their attention. "I was perfectly fine with my first one, but everyone insisted on building this one for me. Even though I didn't really want them to."

"Perhaps they were really grateful to you?" Ike offered. "I mean, gathering the people here had to have taken a lot of effort, right?"

"Who knows?" Stefan wondered, scratching his chin again. "I guess I can't really complain since our library and other neat little things were built into it."

"Looks cozy," Volug remarked, glancing at Ike. "Although I still wonder how comfortable it would be out in a desert such as this."

"You get used to it," the green-haired man answered smiling. "So, shall we? I know Soren will be eager to see you once he hears--"

"Ike?" came a familiar voice as a robed figure emerged from the house. "...is that really you?"

"Oh, looks like he heard you already. And I was just about to introduce you, too. A shame indeed," Stefan pretended to lament, getting a snicker from the wolf.

Ike chuckled as well before walking up, smiling at his best friend. "Hey Soren. It's been a while, hasn't it?" he greeted.

Soren let a small smile come to his face. "It has. Even though only a year has passed, it has felt longer, hasn't it?" he replied, giving Ike a quick hug before stepping back. "But I didn't expect you to come all the way out here. Why are you here?"

"What, I can't visit you?" Ike asked before beckoning Volug over, he walked up next to him. "That, and I wanted to tell you something."

The sage looked at the wolf with a small amount of surprise. "This was the wolf that was with Queen Nailah, wasn't he?" he asked, getting a nod. "Hm. I suppose he's with you for a good reason, isn't he? What was your name again?"

"Pleasant, aren't you?" Volug asked sarcastically, getting a small scowl in response. "Volug. I have the pleasure of traveling with Ike."

"I see," Soren murmured before looking back at Ike and Stefan. "We should continue this inside. I'm sure we have a great many things to discuss," he commented, getting nods from everybody as Stefan showed them inside.

* * *

"I see. So that's what you've been up to," Soren mused as Ike continued to chat with him. A few marks had passed since they had arrived, and most of it had been spent talking with both of them. Volug had grown bored with all the talking and decided to shift into his wolf state, lying down to rest at the far end of the room. After seeing that, Stefan chuckled and excused himself so he could go prepare a dinner for all of them. This just left the former mercenaries alone to talk with each other, and to Ike, it felt like old times. "I'm rather surprised you chose to go to Hatari."

"I know, huh? I hadn't even considered it at all back then," Ike replied, leaning back in his chair. "But when I remembered, it seemed interesting enough, so I went. I'm actually surprised that there was so much plant life on the other side of the Desert of Death, to be honest."

Soren shrugged. "It's entirely possible, although I can't say much about it since I've never been there," he admitted. He then took a good look at Volug, who was laying against the wall with his head in his paws. "He's quite lazy, isn't he?"

"Oh no, he's listening to every word you're saying, actually," Ike remarked, getting a slight growl from the wolf, which meant he actually was listening. Soren raised an eyebrow, but said nothing in response.

Shaking his head the sage then gave a curious look to his best friend. "You said you actually learned the ancient tongue?" he inquired.

Ike smiled. "_**Yep. I can speak it like it's a second nature now,**_" he told the sage, who blinked.

"I have almost no idea what you just said," Soren remarked with a wry smile. "But I guess it means it's true. Only you would go to such lengths to learn something that I wouldn't have bothered with."

The blue-haired man shrugged. "Well, I wanted to learn," was all he said, dropping the subject. "So, how have you been doing over here?"

Soren looked thoughtful. "I've been well. Stefan and I have been very busy in working establishing a settlement here in the desert...with Begnion's support, oddly enough," he mentioned, getting Ike to look slightly surprised. "We've actually had a great deal of visitors coming every so often. Stefan said that the people who think like us--the people who don't think the Branded as a cursed species--have regularly been coming out here to search for the colony. He's planning on gathering them in the near future."

"Ah, I see. But what about the ones that don't think like that?" Ike asked, and Soren knew full well what he was asking.

"They get lost in the desert where they die. No need to concern yourself with them," Soren snorted. "But...anyway, Stefan attributes the change of the way in thinking in Tellius to you, I'll have you know. The stories of the legendary hero Ike and his unification of beorc and laguz have traveled the continent, and those that have never thought ill of the Branded have been speaking up. He said it was quite a miraculous change."

Ike only groaned as Volug propped his head up, and the former mercenary could swear that the wolf would have been slyly smiling at him if he were in his beorc form. "Again with the hero stuff?"

"I know you don't like it, but it's the truth," the sage said gently. "That, and with the King of Goldoa making sure Tellius's history is rewritten correctly, the hate against us is dying down. It might be slow, but it's certainly happening."

"That's good to hear," Ike commented. "I know you two will be able to work everything out. I have faith in you."

Soren smiled. "Indeed. Thank you, Ike."

They were silent for a few moments before Ike felt like he needed to ask something. "Say, Soren...I was wondering..." he began, scratching his chin. He had certainly seen the way Stefan had looked so fondly at his best friend, while Soren didn't actually seem to be rejecting that. "Are you and Stefan..."

Soren coughed, keeping a straight face. However, the slight blush on his cheeks told Ike everything he needed to know. "...yes, we are. For a few months," he confirmed, getting a sly smile from Ike. "What's with that smile? Stop that!"

"Sorry!" Ike chuckled, still grinning. "Anyway...are you happy?" he asked, finally getting to the question he really wanted to ask. While he had let Soren go with the best of intentions that day, he wasn't sure if the sage would be truly happy. All he could do was to trust that he would.

Soren looked thoughtful before nodding. "I am. Some of it has been rough, but...I can say that I'm happy," he answered, and Ike nodded. He could see the sincerity in Soren's eyes, and he knew right then that he had made the right choice.

"I'm glad for you," Ike said softly. "Good thing that Stefan is treating you well."

The sage nodded, but then he looked over at Volug again. "Well then, since you asked me, I think it's fair for me to ask if you two are the same way," he mentioned, getting Volug to look up again in surprise. "I wouldn't think that retainers to the Queen of Hatari would be traveling with you for no reason."

Ike nodded without hesitating. "Yeah, we're together," he said casually, throwing back a glance at Volug, who stared at him. "He was quite adamant on joining me."

Volug chose that time to let out another growl before reverting to his beorc state. "_**Only because you were too stubborn to actually ask me to join you,**_" he grumbled, sitting cross-legged on the floor as he glanced at Soren. "Do you have a problem with me being with him?" he asked dangerously, narrowing his eyes.

Soren shook his head. "No, far from it. I am just...perplexed, that's all." He didn't answer further, even when Ike gave him a questioning glance. "Now then, maybe I should tell you something interesting..."

* * *

"That friend of yours is very abrasive," Volug said to Ike later that night in their room. "He was trying to glare a hole in my back."

Ike sighed. "Well, that's Soren for you. He just doesn't trust you yet," he explained, sitting down on his bed as he polished Ragnell. "I just think he's surprised that I have a laguz like yourself traveling with me."

"Well, he should get over it," the wolf grumbled. "Not like I need his approval anyway."

"That's true," Ike agreed, smiling a bit as Volug moved himself closer. "But I have no doubt he already approves of you."

The wolf huffed at that. "Yeah, he approves so much that he looks like he's going to set me on fire at any time," he retorted sarcastically. "I might just have to eat his tomes first before he can do that."

"I don't think he'd like that," the beorc chuckled. "Besides, don't you hate fire tomes? I wonder what would happen if you ate it...I probably wouldn't like to know, huh?"

Volug snorted, but smiled slightly. "Who knows? Maybe I'll just get a bad case of indigestion."

"That doesn't mean you'll actually try it," Ike teased, getting another shrug from the wolf. "He won't try anything against you. I trust him."

"Mm. You trust a lot of people, don't you?" the wolf asked quietly. "Do you trust me?"

Ike smiled before he pulled Volug closer, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Do you even have to ask?"

"Heh. Stupid question, I know," Volug responded, leaning into the man as they kissed again, this time more deeply.

* * *

The next day found Ike and Stefan sparring with each other, and to anyone else, they would have looked like they were fighting seriously, yet both Soren and Volug knew better. The two were so skilled that they fought fiercely, yet were holding back just enough so they wouldn't seriously injure each other.

As they stood off to the side as the two swordsmen dueled, the sage turned to the wolf, a curious glint in his eyes. "What do you think of Ike?" Soren suddenly asked, prompting the wolf to stare strangely at him. "Tell me the truth."

"Why the sudden interest?" Volug inquired, his tail slowly stilling. "Is it any of your business?"

Soren said nothing for a few moments, merely choosing to stare back at the sparring session. Both Ike and Stefan were deadlocked as their blades clashed, both of them struggling to push the other back. "He is my best friend and all," he mentioned, getting a slight scowl from the wolf. Volug definitely didn't like the tone Soren was using. "Since you seem to be his companion, I want to make sure of something."

The laguz raised an eyebrow. "And why should I even bother telling you anything?" he asked, not bothering to keep the frown off his face. "As far as I'm concerned, we don't have to answer to you for anything at all." He smirked as Soren shot him an annoyed glare, letting his fangs show.

"If you would close that maw you call a mouth for a minute and let me finish, you'll actually know what I was going to ask," the sage snapped, causing Volug's smirk to fade, being replaced with a deep frown. "Now, let me ask again. What do you think of Ike?"

The wolf narrowed his eyes. He almost refused to answer, but he knew something was going on in the sage's mind. Despite his appearance, Volug didn't _smell_ any hostility coming from the smaller man..._What is he up to?_ he wondered before turning his attention back to the spar, where it still seemed evenly matched. "I can't really explain," he finally muttered, not bothering to even look at the sage. "Ever since the war...I seemed drawn to him. When he searched me out in Hatari, I didn't know how to feel about him. Now? I still don't...other than the fact that I love him."

Soren looked thoughtful as he heard that, watching as Ike and Stefan locked swords again. While anyone else would say that they were even, Soren could see that Ike was clearly winning. "You say that, yet you don't know what else to feel about him?" he asked, not even having to turn to feel the glare settled on him.

"Don't presume that you know what you're talking about all the time," Volug growled at him, violet eyes gleaming. "Ike taught me the modern tongue. He taught me about his life and other things. In return, I've also taught him about the ancient language. A lot of things happened in between. If you understand Ike at all, you should know that it's impossible to describe him. He's just...Ike. And that's why I love him."

"...heh," Soren chuckled, turning away from the spar. He knew Ike had pretty much won it. "Don't you think I know that already?" he drawled, prompting the wolf to look over at him. "Ike is not an ordinary beorc. He is special...far more special than anyone I've ever met, laguz included. You can't really describe him at all, because there's always something in him someone else sees that others can't. That's why they're drawn to him," he explained silently, turning his head back to see Ike driving Stefan backwards. "If you've already recognized that, then I have the answer I wanted."

"And what answer would that be?" Volug asked, a bit irritated that the smaller man was still being evasive.

Soren merely shrugged before he started to walk away. "That I won't have to worry about Ike anymore, that's all," was the vague answer the wolf got before Soren retreated back into the house, just as Stefan was disarmed by Ike.

_What did he mean?_ Volug wondered as he continued staring at the spot the sage had been in moments before. _He doesn't have to worry about him anymore? What the hell was he going on about?_

"Volug?"

"Huh?" the wolf started in slight surprise, glancing up as Ike looked at him curious. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering what you were staring at," Ike answered, scratching the back of his head. He had a few scratches where Stefan got in some slices, but he didn't look quite as bruised as the swordmaster. "Hey, where's Soren? I thought he was here when we began to fight."

Volug shrugged indifferently. "Dunno. Didn't care to see where he went," he replied, still mulling over what Soren had told him. As Ike sighed and proceeded to make idle chatter with him, Volug's mind was still on his conversation with Soren. _Just why was he asking all those things? Was he trying to probe if I was good enough for Ike?_ That very thought made him tremble in fury. How dare the little sage try and say he wasn't good enough for him?

Ike blinked. "Volug, what's wrong?" he asked lowly, placing a hand on the tanned man's shoulder. "You look like you want to hurt someone."

The wolf stopped as he felt Ike's hand on his shoulder. "It's..." he started, fully intent on telling Ike about his talk with Soren. However, he then realized it wouldn't serve anything; getting angry over the whole thing wasn't going to help any of them. "Forget it. It's not important."

The beorc leaned in, frowning. "Are you sure?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Yeah. I think I'm just a bit too irritable from not sleeping," Volug responded, faking a yawn. _I'm not going to let that sage create any incidents between us,_ he thought as Ike chuckled and patted his shoulder, leading him into the house. _I'm not going to play his little game._

He needed no reason for being with Ike; following the blue-haired man just seemed like the most natural thing he could do. It also helped that the two loved each other, in his opinion.

* * *

A few days later, both Ike and Volug were about to leave for Begnion. Soren had said that a new continent had indeed been discovered across the sea in the time Ike had spent in Hatari, and Sanaki was busy trying to establish any sort of contact with any form of government on it. She had been unsuccessful, but some ships would sail over there every so often to see if they could do it.

"A pity you two can't stay longer," Stefan sighed, a sad smile on his face. "I would have enjoyed talking to you more."

"I know the feeling, but there's still a lot we want to see," Ike replied, shaking Stefan's hand. "We'll be back someday."

"I trust you will," the swordmaster replied before turning to Volug. "And Volug, it was so interesting to meet you. You'll have to tell me more about Hatari someday. It sounds like a wonderful place."

The wolf nodded. "I will. It's been a pleasure meeting you, as well," he acknowledged, shaking Stefan's hand as well. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Stefan had grown on him in the last few days. Perhaps it was just his friendliness towards him, but the man had said some pretty wise things and pointed things out that he didn't know before. Ike's respect for him was well justified, he thought.

Soren then stepped forward, and Volug made it a point to shift into his wolf form, glaring heavily at him. Soren paid it no mind as he hugged Ike again, the beorc patting him on the shoulder. "Ike, it was great to see you again. You have to come back when you return to the continent. I'll be expecting you," he told his friend, and Ike grinned.

"Since when have I ever broken a promise?" he asked, chuckling. "Don't worry. We'll be back again, right Volug?" The wolf barked at him, and Ike laughed. "That's right! Anyway, Soren, Stefan...take care of yourselves. We'll see you again!"

"We will!" Soren called as the two then turned and exited the entrance of the colony, walking away into the sands of the desert. As he watched them walk past the rock wall, he sighed. "At least he's been taking good care of himself."

"Why do you say that?" Stefan asked, walking up to the back of the sage and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "He's a strong man. It shouldn't be surprising he can take care of himself."

"Normally, I'd agree. Since he's traveling the world, however, I was worried that the loneliness he would endure would get the better of him," Soren explained, not at all bothered by the closeness of the swordmaster. "I'm glad to see that he's alright, though."

Stefan grinned. "Oh? So when did you become the one worrying over him?" he teased, getting a slight scoff from the smaller man. "For that matter, how did you know?"

"I've known Ike for a long time, that's why," Soren answered, closing his eyes. "That's why, even though I didn't travel with him, I hoped he would find someone who would. A person that would make him just as happy as if I had been there."

"Huh," Stefan muttered, looking a bit concerned. "Is Volug that person?" he asked, looking down into the red eyes of his lover. "Both of you seemed to be fighting over the whole visit."

Soren was silent for a few moments, and Stefan wondered if the sage was even going to answer his question. "Volug is definitely the one," he finally said, nodding. "Just from what he said...I have no doubts that he's going to follow Ike wherever he goes. While I was surprised at the fact that they said they love each other, I had to confirm it myself. I didn't want any doubts when they left."

"And what would you have done if you still had those doubts?" Stefan asked, holding Soren a bit closer. The two had grown close over their work together, and it was a bit unsettling to see Soren think like this.

"Nothing, of course. After all, they're my own doubts," he replied, shifting himself so he was closer to the swordmaster. "Besides...people do change. Perhaps Ike has changed enough that I would have been wrong in any case. But I know they'll be alright now."

"You still care for him a lot, don't you?" Stefan remarked, stroking his hand through Soren's hair. "I can see why."

Soren smiled up at the green-haired man. "Indeed. We should wish him--and Volug--happiness."

* * *

Several months passed. Ike had managed to get a boat in Begnion and a skilled captain to take him and his companion across the sea to the new continent. It was probably the only time he was grateful for his status; not many would be willing to take anyone to a relatively unexplored continent. The actual trip would take a few months, depending on how the wind blew. To Ike, it was tolerable; he had already done something like that a few years before, when they had to get to Begnion the first time. However, Volug was a different story altogether; being cooped up on a ship wasn't good for his nerves.

During the first month, Ike had found out that the wolf was unused to travel by ship. Often, Ike would find him below deck in his cabin, in his wolf form to try and stave off the effects of seasickness. Whenever the wolf was like this, he would stay by his side and keep him company, just so the wolf wouldn't be lonely. Volug made no attempt to venture above decks in his beorc form; the first time hadn't been pretty, and he had been confined to his room for the next day or two to get over it.

"I...hate...the sea," Volug managed to groan out one day as they sailed. It had been a while since they had left Tellius, and he felt really _antsy_. The only place he could run around in his wolf form was above deck, which meant he had to deal with the constant rocking of the ship. On top of that, the sea air around him had gotten salt crystals stuck in his tail whenever he was in beorc form--it was even worse when he was actually in his laguz form. He just felt disgustingly dirty and confined.

Ike was slightly better off, but seemed just as miserable as he did. "I know," he sighed, sitting down next to the wolf. "Being cooped up like this really gets to me too."

Volug grunted as he curled his tail around him, running his hand through the fur and scowling as numerous salt crystals were brushed out. "I can't wait until I can get an actual bath," he grumbled.

Ike snickered. "You actually want a bath?" he asked in mock surprise. "I think that counts as a miracle!"

"Oh, be quiet!" Volug snapped, although he couldn't resist smirking himself once he realized the irony of it.

Finally, two and a half months after being confined to the ship, they had arrived at the new continent, which the people called Elysius. Volug had wasted no time in transforming and running around, glad to feel the solid ground again. Ike had merely watched him run around for a while, resting against a nearby tree while being grateful to be back on land at last. After a while, they traveled to the nearest town and got a room at a local inn, taking the time to finally clean up after such a long voyage.

After that, their travels began in earnest as they journeyed the land. Surprisingly, Elysius--or at least, the part they landed in--seemed to lack a unified central government, which accounted for why Sanaki couldn't establish contact with any sort of ruler. Instead, it seemed each town ruled by itself, with no help from any outsiders or other towns. To Ike, it felt slightly backwards to him, as there were no kingdoms or governments to centralize the towns into one country. It was slightly weird for him to think that there was no royalty to rule the land, and because of that, he knew both he and Volug had to be careful in their travels. Who knew what each town was like?

As they traveled, Ike found that Volug preferred to keep in his wolf form, because it was "more comfortable", according to him. It also turned out to be a bit easier on them, because for some reason, many townspeople and other travelers didn't bat an eye at the giant wolf traveling next to a blue-haired man. Neither of them knew how they would react to Volug's beorc form, but didn't dare take the chance; who knew how they would react?

During the day, Ike would try and talk enough for both of them. He'd talk about the towns they passed, or the landscape, or anything that had caught their interest. Volug would make grunts in response as he walked beside the beorc, making small growling sounds to agree with whatever he said. While it wasn't the best way to converse with each other, Ike knew enough about Volug to know what he was trying to say in his laguz form.

When night fell, and whenever they set up a place to camp, Volug would immediately revert to his beorc form and do his best to talk with Ike in an attempt to make up for the one-sided conversations during the day. Sometimes Ike would talk back, and their conversations would last for a good while until they went to sleep. Other times, Ike would only listen intently, only nodding when appropriate. At first, Volug thought he was doing the same thing he did during the day, but after a few nights of it, he figured out Ike just wanted to hear his own views on everything they had seen. Whenever Ike finally did fall asleep, Volug would shift into his wolf form and lay down next to him, keeping watch for both of them as they rested.

Despite the tedium, both of them were happy with what they were doing. Who knew what else awaited them on this land?

* * *

Ike grunted as he threw back another bandit, Ragnell slicing the man's gut open as he did so. "Of course, there always have to be bandits," he grunted, waiting for the next person to try their luck. Volug growled in response, lashing out at another ruffian and tearing his throat out.

The two had merely been traveling towards another town they had heard of, one that was significantly bigger than the previous ones. While on the way, they had been stopped by a gang of thieves, who had demanded that Ike hand his stuff over to them. Ike had merely raised an eyebrow at that; it had been a while since he had actually been stopped by bandits too stupid to know who they were dealing with. When one of them remarked on capturing Volug and selling him however, he didn't even bother to try and get them to retreat. Instead, he swung Ragnell and killed the first few of them before they could react.

What surprised the beorc was that there were so many of them out in such a remote place. The path they were on had nothing but a few trees and bushes, so the possibility of it being a hideout for bandits was very low. But then again, it was the first bandit band they had run across while on Elysius, so who knew how they thought here?

Slicing open another man's chest, he scowled. "I told you all to retreat. I would give you that option now, but I can't just leave you all here to ambush somebody else," he announced to all of them, Ragnell flashing in the sun.

A few did take heed to his words and ran, dropping their weapons as they did so. However, it looked like the more foolhardy ones stayed, sneering at him. "You think so, boy?" the supposed leader, a burly man who didn't seem to have much hair left on his head, said. "You killed my men! I'm going to make you pay for that! And your little dog too!"

Volug snarled at that as he barreled into another bandit, his fangs and claws rending the man's stomach. Ike raised an eyebrow at the bandit, giving him a challenging stare. The leader growled as he raised his weapon, charging towards Ike with a murderous expression on his face.

"Do you even learn at all?" Ike asked in exasperation, swiftly swinging his blade and making a large cut against the man's torso. It was a wonder that the man wasn't split in half as he fell to the ground, dead. "Guess not, since you're the one lying on the ground."

Volug scoffed as he returned to his beorc form, his tail swaying in irritation. "I never knew beorc could be so dense," he muttered as he started to make his way back to Ike's side. "It's pathetic."

Ike started to agree when he spotted something from behind Volug. A bandit propping himself up and preparing to throw something..."Volug, move!" he shouted as he grabbed the wolf. The tanned man was taken by surprise as Ike shoved him out of the way, just in time to see something whiz pass them. Ike grunted as it nicked his arm, making a small cut along his bicep before he swung Ragnell again and split the bandit's head right open.

"Ike..." Volug murmured in concern as Ike lowered Rangell and clutched his arm in pain. He cursed himself for getting careless as he moved to the beorc's side. "What happened?"

"Seems like one of them managed to live long enough to throw that knife," Ike grunted, reaching into his satchel and getting a cloth so he could dry the blood stemming out. "It's fine, but...it's burning. The injury feels like it's burning..."

Volug's eyes widened. "Poison?" he asked, getting a nod in return. The wolf remembered the feeling of it when he had faced poisoned blades and gotten hurt. It felt like his body was on fire and that it would fall over at any time, and the pain was excruciating. He was lucky that cleric was there to cleanse his body, but right now, they weren't so lucky.

Ike grunted as he looked in his satchel again. "I didn't think to bring any antitoxin with me," he muttered, wincing a bit. "Heh, how shortsighted of me. Looks like I'll have to wait for it to run its course."

The wolf flinched. With such a small amount of poison, it would still hurt. It wouldn't be enough to kill, but Ike would be in grievous pain for a while if he chose to wait it out. He couldn't let that happen. "No," he said firmly, scowling. "I'm not going to let you go through this. We'll have to find an antidote."

Ike looked up at him curiously. "Volug, we're too far from any of the towns at the moment. The one we're going to is still a half-day away. It won't be long until we'd have to stop because of my injury," he protested, shaking his head. "I'll be fine."

"You will not!" Volug snapped, looking at the small cut on Ike's arm. The skin around it was already inflamed, and soon enough the poison would start acting. They had to get to a town. "I have an idea. Get on," he muttered to the man.

"Huh?"

Volug merely shifted into his wolf form, turning his head to look at Ike expectantly. Blinking, Ike hesitantly climbed onto Volug's back, wondering if the wolf would be able to handle his weight. He got his answer when Volug immediately took off running at full speed, causing him to grip his fur to avoid falling off. "Whoa! Hey, Volug, slow down! Or at least give me warning when you take off like that!" he cried, shocked that Volug seemed to be effortlessly hauling him off wherever they were going.

* * *

A few marks later found Volug on the outskirts of a large town, Ike still on his back. The beorc seemed to be fine, other than the slight groans of pain he let out. Volug winced every time he heard it; the poison was beginning its work, and unless he hurried, Ike would begin suffering in earnest. He couldn't bear that.

However, as he approached the town, he realized something. Going in while in his wolf form would definitely attract attention, especially if he had someone on his back. Even if Ike wasn't with him, it'd be suicide regardless. Some of them would possibly regard him as a monster. Grunting, he quickly diverted his path into the nearby forest, making sure he went deep enough where no one would find them. Once secluded enough, he carefully lowered himself so Ike could get off his back, the beorc wondering what Volug was thinking.

"Volug...?" he let out as the wolf reverted back into his beorc form. "What's going on?" he wondered, his eyes half-lidded. The poison made it hard for him to comprehend what was going on around him.

Volug shook his head, taking Ike's satchel and rooting around in it for something. "We're at the town," he explained hurriedly. "Unfortunately, I don't think I can go in while carrying you, so..." With an apologetic look, he continued to scrounge around in the bag until he pulled out what he was looking for. The first was a pouch full of gold, and the second was a hooded cloak, just big enough to hide his ears and tail. "I'll be back as soon as possible. Just keep awake, okay?"

Ike nodded, not really having the energy to do much else. Volug quickly left the forest as he donned the cloak, wrapping his tail around himself while pushing the hood over his head. It was uncomfortable, but he had to bear with it as best he could. He didn't know how the townspeople would react if they glimpsed his ears or tail, but he knew it wouldn't be pleasant.

While making himself as inconspicuous as possible, he entered the town in search of a vendor. Ike had once told him that various shopkeepers around Tellius had sold antitoxin because poisoned weaponry was so common among bandits and other mercenaries. He had to hold out hope that one of them would sell such a thing, because then he would be able to get out of there that much quicker.

Asking around, he finally found the store after ten minutes of searching, hurrying into the vendor and gripping his pouch of gold.

"Hello! Welcome to Lalabel's," the shopkeeper called as a young woman emerged from the backroom. "How may I help you?"

Volug took a quick look around the shelves. There were numerous things lined up on the shelves, such as vulneraies and a few staves, but..."Do you have any antitoxin?" he quickly asked, deciding it would be better to ask the shopkeeper herself instead of looking.

Lalabel shook her head. "I'm sorry sir, but I haven't carried that in a while," she explained, watching as the man before her scowled. "It's so hard to get nowadays...not that many people need it, of course."

"But I need it _now_," Volug snapped, forcing himself to calm down as the shopkeeper recoiled a bit. "Sorry...do you know where I can get some? Any of it? I need some as soon as possible."

The woman edged herself a bit further from the man, swearing that the person would probably eat her if he got angry. "W-well...there is an apothecary in town," she stuttered, the man's attention focused on her. "Perhaps he'll have one ready? That man is so strange, he makes all sorts of things that no one ever uses..."

"Where is it?" Volug demanded, throwing manners out the window. He needed to find it immediately.

Lalabel flinched. "In the alleys near the back of town!" she exclaimed, rearing back. "Just go through the town square and past the statue, and it'll be in the first alley you see! Now please leave!"

Volug nodded hastily as he left the building, breaking into a sprint. It would have been better if he could have bought the antidote at the shop, but something was better than nothing, at least. He just needed to hope that the apothecary could make an antidote on such short notice. Following the shopkeeper's directions, he rushed through the town square and passed a giant statue of a man until he could finally see an alley of sorts in between two buildings. A bit relieved, he ducked into the alley and followed it to a weird looking house, with smoke rising out of the chimney on top.

_This place reeks,_ Volug thought in disgust, unable to keep from taking a whiff of the smells around the house. _This has to be the place._

Entering the apothecary, he was greeted by a dark room with many boiling cauldrons set in the back, each one presumably having some sort of potion brewing in them. The wolf had to try very hard not to cover his nose; the stench of everything was overpowering, and his nose burned just from having to smell all of it. Keeping a straight face, he went up to the counter, where an old man was snoring. Growling in irritation, he smacked the counter with his fist, causing the old man to leap up.

"WHAT?!" the old man shrilled, looking around. "Who would deny an elderly person like myself his rest?! Damned youngsters, always making noise--!"

"Excuse me," Volug interrupted, scowling.

"--not showing respect for their elders! Why, if it were not for me, I couldn't give them their medicine, and they would--"

"Old man..." Volug then tried, growling a bit.

"--of course they would get sick! I never get shown respect, and--"

"HEY!" Volug finally roared, getting the old man to look at him. "I need some help, so stop babbling nonsense!"

"Eh?" the old man queried, adjusting his glasses. "A customer? Oh my, I haven't had one in ages! Happy day! I knew someone would come eventually!" he cheered.

Volug clenched his fist, his patience starting to run out. "Do you have any antitoxin?" he ground out, deciding to be blunt. He couldn't afford to beat around the bush.

"Hm? What did you say?" the potion maker asked, cupping his ear. "Speak louder, son."

"_Anti-toxin_," the wolf stressed, narrowing his eyes. "Do you have it? Yes or no?"

"I can't seem to hear you! Oh, these confounded ears of mine, I can't make out what you're saying. You wanted to do what with a rock?" the old man babbled, looking curious.

Volug groaned. _Figures he would be deaf as well as touched in the head,_ he thought, scowling. How was he going to tell the old man exactly what he needed? An idea came to him as he glimpsed a piece of parchment on the counter, a quill and a bottle of ink right next to it. Without hesitation, he leaned over and grabbed them even as the old man protested, quickly dipping the quill into the ink and scribbling something on the parchment before shoving it at the old man. _Looks like he was right all along. I'll really have to thank Ike for making me brush up on my writing,_ Volug quickly thought as the old man stared at it.

"What an impolite young man you are!" the old man ranted as he took the parchment and glanced at it. "Eh? '_I need some antitoxin to purge poison out of my friend_'? Well, why didn't you say so?! Always skipping over the most important parts..." he mumbled, much to Volug's irritation. The potion maker then went into the back, emerging a few moments later with a red-colored bottle. "Here's my finest antidote! Guaranteed to kick the poison out of anybody it's used on! Now, about payment, my boy..."

"Here!" Volug grunted as he poured a large amount of gold from the bag onto the counter before swiping the bottle and running out of the store. Ike would need it as soon as possible, and he had no time to waste.

"Huh? Hey, wait! You paid me too much!" the old man yelled as Volug ran from the shop. "Accursed youngsters, always rushing off and not bothering to count how much they give their elders. Pah!"

* * *

Volug quickly made his way out of the town; he knew a mark or two had passed since he went in. Making sure he was far out of sight of the guards, he ducked into the woods and took off the confining cloak, stretching his tail as it was freed from its confines. "Hiding it is such a pain," he muttered as his ears twitched, silently moving into the forest. It'd be so much easier if he could walk around without having to hide it from the other beorc, but he had no choice.

Making his way into the clearing where he had laid Ike down, Volug returned to see Ike still awake, but obviously in much greater pain. "Volug..." he breathed, offering a tired smile to the wolf as the laguz sat down next to him. "How'd it go...?"

"Shh. Don't move," Volug urged, grasping Ike's arm as he looked for the cut. It had clotted in the time they had traveled, but the skin around it was still red. He had a vague idea of how to administer the antidote, but he didn't want to proceed until he was completely sure that it would work. "Ike, tell me. How do I do this?" he finally asked, biting his lip.

Ike blinked blearily for a few seconds before he looked at his arm. "You have to...open the wound again and pour some of the antidote in," he explained, his breathing somewhat labored. "Then wrap it. I think the poison should be gone...in a few marks."

Volug nodded as he looked at the small wound again. Pressing his fingernail at it, he applied pressure until the light scab broke. He winced at the slight hiss of pain Ike gave out before he took the red bottle and uncorked it. "This had better work," he muttered before he slightly tipped the bottle, pouring the clear liquid over the now open cut.

Ike gave a muffled shout of pain as his arm burned again, and it took all of Volug's strength just to stop Ike's arm from thrashing. "Calm down," he whispered before he grabbed a white roll of bandage from the satchel, quickly wrapping it around the cut and tying it tightly to keep anything from escaping. Letting loose a sigh of relief, Volug realized he had done all he could do. Now it was up to the antidote to do the rest.

For the next few marks, Ike still complained of being in pain. Volug was next to him the entire time, unable to do anything more than offer him comfort. His tail ran up and down Ike's other arm, trying to soothe his pain by distracting him. Eventually, Ike felt the pain starting to fade, and his breathing lightened. "I'm feeling better," Ike groaned, sitting up and leaning against a nearby tree. "I think the antidote worked."

Volug couldn't keep the relieved smile off his face. "Thank goodness," he breathed. "I'm sorry. Had I been more careful, you wouldn't have had to suffer like you did."

"Volug, stop blaming yourself," Ike chided, frowning. "It happens. You can't always be aware that an enemy is still barely alive in the heat of battle. We just have to be more careful next time, alright?"

The wolf nodded, a small part of him relieved that Ike didn't blame him at all. "Of course. I'll make sure they're all dead next time," he promised before leaning down. "_**Please accept my apologies for letting you get hurt,**_" he then whispered in the ancient tongue.

Ike rolled his eyes. "_**Why should you apologize? You've done more than enough taking me here and getting me an antidote. I should be thanking you.**_"

The wolf looked like he wanted to protest at that, but the stare he got from Ike stopped him. "...alright. I can accept that," he said, sitting down next to Ike. "I'll make sure it won't happen again, however."

Ike grinned. "I'll trust you on that," he said, taking Volug's hand in his own and holding it. Volug glanced at it before holding Ike's hand as well.

"I'll trust you, too."

* * *

Ike recovered the very next day, and they were off traveling again. They had run into more bandits on their travels, but they had been quickly, and cautiously, taken care of. They continued to journey from town to town to see what awaited them, finding new things in each place. It struck Ike as odd that he had not heard one thing about any kind of laguz living in the land; perhaps Tellius truly was the only place that the laguz still lived.

"There still might be some around here," Volug had then said. "We've barely begun to travel this land. It's possible we'll find some along the way."

Ike had agreed, and their travels continued. Along the way, they stopped every so often to take an odd job or two to make some money, and it definitely reminded Ike of all the mercenary work they used to do.

Volug had actually paused one time as he carried a bag of flour over his shoulder. "What's wrong? You look sad," he mentioned, causing Ike to snap out of his daze.

"Ah, it's nothing. I was just remembering that I used to do this sort of thing before we met," Ike sighed, a wistful smile on his face. "Odd jobs here and there for whatever money we could get...now that we're doing it again, I actually miss those days."

"I'd imagine it would be hard not to miss them," the wolf remarked. "You said you were happy back then."

Ike nodded. "I was, I'll admit," he chuckled, placing his hand on Volug's free shoulder. "But I'm happier now."

Volug offered him a grin before they continued hauling supplies into the town, collecting their money afterward.

Their relationship had gotten deeper, if such a thing were possible. There didn't even have to be any words between them; it was as if they knew how the other felt without having to ask. At times, Ike felt Volug settling himself much closer to him every night--sometimes right at his feet. He never had the heart to ask him to move a bit further away so he wouldn't trip on him in the mornings, because he knew Volug valued the closeness just as he did.

And so it went for several months. Traveling, sparring, meeting new people...it all seemed to pass in a blur for them as life became a routine. It had actually become difficult to keep track of the days with how much they traveled. Maybe that was why, one day several months into their journey on Elysius, after a long stretch of warm days, they were taken completely by surprise by the change of weather.

* * *

Ike wrapped the cloak much tighter around himself as the freezing rain continued to pour down on them. Both he and Volug had certainly noticed it getting colder as they traveled, but this? "This is insane..." he grumbled as they fought through the bitter wind. The wind was bitterly cold and howling, making the constant downpour feel even worse. "We should have waited before leaving town, but I didn't think it would be this bad..."

He thought he heard Volug whimper next to him. The poor wolf's fur was completely soaked, and Ike could swear he was shivering. Volug had insisted on remaining in his wolf form, saying that he would be able to handle himself better without having to put a cloak on. Ike somehow doubted that, and by looking at the way Volug seemed to stumble on, he couldn't help but be concerned.

"Volug, are you alright?!" he shouted as the wind picked up, bringing up his hands to shield his face. "You're not looking too good!"

The wolf seemed to hear him as he looked up, giving a small growl in acknowledgment. As Ike got a good look at him, Volug definitely seemed to be shivering violently. Perhaps something _was_ wrong with him.

"We have to find some sort of shelter..." Ike murmured to himself. The next town didn't seem too far away, but he doubted either of them could continue in such weather. Motioning Volug to follow him, they forced themselves on through the weather, enduring the ice cold rain as it speared across their faces, gritting their teeth to ignore the stinging sensation that followed.

Finally, after what seemed like several miles of walking, they found a shelter in the form of a big tree off the side of the road, its leaves and branches large enough to provide respite from the rain. The two immediately rushed under it and breathed heavily, Ike immediately throwing the rain-soaked cloak off of him. It was still cold, but he'd rather be cold than freezing wet. "Are you okay, Volug?" he asked softly, running a hand through the wolf's fur.

Volug seemed to whimper again before he reverted, crossing his arms to keep himself warm. "N-no..." he stuttered out. "I'm freezing. What is up with the weather?" he asked, moving himself closer to Ike to keep warm.

"I don't know," Ike responded softly, holding Volug closer. It definitely was too cold to keep apart. "I wasn't expecting this at all!"

Volug grunted, shifting in Ike's arms a bit. "Guess we're waiting until it dies down a bit, huh?" he asked quietly.

The beorc nodded. "I'm not going back out there until it calms down, and I know for certain you aren't. We should just rest here." When the laguz nodded, they just sat there as they watched the rain pour down, the chilling wind still sweeping across them. They didn't talk much, only murmuring to each other to try to pass the time.

A mark seemed to pass, and the rain started to calm a bit. Ike stared back out at the path before them--the village couldn't be too far from them now, he thought. Shifting himself so he could get some feeling back into his legs, he shook Volug, who seemed to have dozed off in his arms. "Hey, Volug. We should get going while the weather is like this," he whispered.

The wolf didn't respond. Curious, he shook Volug's shoulder again, this time a bit more forcefully. "Hey, wake up. You don't want to fall asleep out here, do you?" he then tried. Volug still didn't wake up, and Ike became worried as he propped the wolf up against the tree, gazing at him. The laguz's skin was cold, and he could feel the body shiver in his hands as he helped him up. Ike winced as he remembered that Volug was still shirtless--the laguz never liked wearing such clothing, he remembered. _And just our luck to end up in the pouring rain,_ he thought in distress as he put a hand to Volug's forehead.

Pulling his hand away, he frowned. Volug definitely didn't feel sick, but he had to get him to a better shelter than where they were at, or Volug would come down with a fever. "We need to move, but not in this condition..." he murmured before he got an idea. Volug probably wouldn't like it, but he didn't have a choice at the moment. "You can blame me later for this," he said to the unconscious wolf, pulling some clothing out of his satchel. He pulled the black undershirt over the wolf's head, and then after a moment of thought, took off his own black vest and put that on Volug as well. The laguz needed as much warmth as possible, and if Ike had to sacrifice a bit of his own clothing for that, he'd gladly do it.

Gazing down at the wolf, Ike had to admit Volug still looked just as good even with a shirt on...even if he preferred seeing them off. He then took his cape off and made a makeshift cloak for the wolf, wrapping it around him so he would remain as warm as possible. "There, that should work until we get to the next town," Ike finally said, fetching his still wet cloak and putting it on. It was still wet and freezing, but it was still better than letting the rain fall on him. "Alright...time to go."

And so, after placing Volug on his own back, he ventured back out into the rain and started back on the path, intent on making his way to the village quickly while hauling the laguz on his back. It proved to be a lot harder than he thought it would be; Volug was definitely a lot heavier than he looked, and he had to stop a few times to make sure he was still well supported on his back.

The way to the village was a lot longer than he thought it was, and at times, the rain seemed to mess with him. It would return to the torrential downpour it was for a few minutes before it would calm again, and then it would let up for a bit before starting up again. "This is ridiculous," he growled as he continued, shivering. It seemed the rain didn't want him to continue on. "I have to keep going...he needs to get to a bed as soon as possible..."

After struggling through the rain, he smiled in relief as he finally caught sight of the town, hurrying towards it. It certainly looked deserted with how the rain was falling, but he couldn't care too much about it as he entered the village and quickly made his way into the inn. He panted for breath as he did so, dripping wet and exhausted. "Heh...see Volug? I managed to get you here..." he panted out, knowing that the wolf couldn't answer him.

"Hello, welcome to...oh my heavens!" the innkeeper gasped as she spotted the two in the doorway. "Are you alright?!"

Ike couldn't even muster the energy to shake his head. "Do you...have any rooms available?" he asked lowly.

The woman nodded. "Of course, of course. I'll show you to them," she said before noticing the person on Ike's back. "Is this man alright?! Have you really been carrying him all this way? Oh, we need to get you two to a bed! Come on, come on, don't worry about payment right now. You need rest!"

Ike nodded his thanks as he carried Volug with him, and as soon as the innkeeper showed them their rooms, she left to go fetch some hot soup for him. The moment he was in the room, he laid the wolf down on one of the beds, taking the cape off and throwing it somewhere in the corner. Thankfully, Volug wasn't terribly wet, so he could continue wearing those clothes to keep warm. Feeling his head again, Ike sighed in relief; Volug only felt slightly warm, so it was either a cold or a slight fever. Far better than the alternatives.

He had no more time to think as the innkeeper came back with the hot soup, and after he drank it, he felt the day's exhaustion finally catch up with him as he fell onto the second bed, asleep before he even hit the pillow.

* * *

Groaning a bit, Volug struggled to open his eyes as he woke up, his vision hazy. "Where...?" he murmured, blinking rapidly. He couldn't hear the rain or feel the wind anymore, and everything just seemed a bit too quiet. Groggily, he sat up as he looked around. _I'm in some sort of building...an inn? he wondered. When'd we get here?_

As he threw his legs over the bed--to which he wondered how he ended up in one in the first place, considering he never liked them--he looked down with wide eyes. "Huh?" he mumbled as he looked at the material he was wearing. A black undershirt and a black vest..."This is Ike's clothing. Why am I wearing it?" he asked himself, a bit grumpy. Ike knew very well he didn't like to wear stuff over his top half, so why did he-

_Wait,_ he suddenly thought, looking over at the other bed. He was immensely confused right now, but he knew Ike was still around. "Ike?" he asked tentatively, looking at the figure curled up under the covers as he approached it. A familiar head of blue hair was resting on the pillow, shivering slightly. Volug's eyes widened--how did they get here? Reaching out and shaking Ike's shoulder, he tried again. "Ike?"

A groan came from the beorc as he turned over, his eyes slowly opening. "...Volug?" he groaned, seeing the wolf wide awake. "Are you alright?" he asked lowly as he slowly sat up, scratching the back of his head.

Volug looked at him curiously. "Of course I'm alright. Why do you ask?"

"You weren't fine yesterday," Ike groaned out, his body aching. Carrying the wolf all the way to the town had hurt. "After we rested under that tree, you wouldn't wake up. I had to carry you all the way to this town so you wouldn't freeze to death."

The wolf's eyes widened. "Huh?" he mumbled out intelligently. "Wait, you're saying...you had to carry me here?"

Ike rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah. And you're really heavy, you know that?" he responded, laying back. "What happened? Why wouldn't you wake up?"

Volug shook his head, in disbelief. "I remember feeling really cold when I came out of my wolf form...and while we were resting, I just felt really tired. So I closed my eyes, and then the next thing I knew, I was laying in that bed over there."

"Do you feel sick?" Ike then asked, getting Volug to shake his head. "That's odd. I don't know why you passed out...maybe you really did have some sort of fever before we got here. I don't know."

Volug shrugged, sitting down in the chair beside Ike's bed. "Maybe," he answered, staring into Ike's eyes. "Ike...are you alright?"

Ike sneezed, catching Volug off guard. "Heh...well, I think I've come down with a cold since my body hurts, but other than that, I'm fine," he answered, smiling at the wolf. "I'll be better with a day or so of rest."

Volug frowned. "Again, because of me, you're in this condition," he muttered, looking down at the ground. "Ike, I can't apologize enough for--"

"Don't say another word, Volug," Ike interrupted, scowling. "It is _not_ your fault. Not this time or the last time. Besides, we're both fine! That's what matters in the end."

"No, Ike, stop saying that! It's my fault no matter which way you look at it!" Volug snapped, his ears flattening against his head. "Because of me..."

He was stopped when Ike grabbed the collar around his neck and tugged him downward, crushing his lips against his own. "Ike!?" he gasped in surprise as the beorc pulled away.

"What does it take to get you to stop blaming yourself?" the blue haired man asked with a sigh. "Look. Things happen all the time. It was out of our control. Besides, you helped me when I was poisoned a few months ago. Why couldn't I help you now? We're even, at any rate."

"Nice way of looking at it," Volug snorted, a small smile on his face. "Do you really forgive me?"

"You idiot. Of course I do," Ike scoffed before tugging Volug forward again and taking his lips again. "Now are you going to stop blaming yourself?" he asked as he pulled away, smiling softly.

Volug looked thoughtful. "Hm... Depends. Are you going to keep kissing me until I stop?" he teased, getting a laugh from Ike before he took his lips once more.

* * *

**Fun facts:** Lalabel is actually Aimee's name in other games, most notably Shadow Dragon and earlier games. Of course, in this fic, she's merely another person with that name.

Volug is also _very_ heavy in either form. Ike normally can't rescue him in the game, and Volug, in his wolf form, can rescue the _Black Knight_. That's insane.


	4. IV: Arcana VI: The Lovers

After that, their travels continued once more. It seemed each town they passed continued to get bigger and bigger, and Ike theorized that there indeed was a kingdom on Elysius _somewhere_. It was possible that they chose to seclude themselves from the outside world, which would be why they hadn't attempted to find out if there were outside continents before then.

"It still doesn't make any sense that they're avoiding contact with Begnion," he mentioned, Ragnell over his shoulder. "You would think that contact with other lands would make them happy."

Volug grunted from next to him, keeping pace near the beorc. "Ah, why am I even wondering?" Ike continued, sighing. "Not like I can read minds. I'll never understand what those in power are thinking." It was all so strange to him; why avoid contact with Tellius?

Eventually, he decided that it wasn't their problem. They were just there to explore, not get them to talk to the powers back home.

The two continued to traverse the land together, their bond deeper than it was before. To Ike's surprise, Volug insisted on traveling beside him in his beorc form, despite the dangers it might have brought. It certainly made the tedium of traveling a lot easier on Ike, now that he had someone to talk to on the way. Volug seemed more at ease with him than anything, and Ike was surprised with how easily the wolf seemed to smile around him. _I guess this journey is making him open up more,_ Ike thought.

However, on some days, Ike got this weird feeling coming from the wolf. At times, he'd catch the wolf giving him an unreadable stare, and whenever he asked what was wrong, he wouldn't get a straight answer. Sometimes when Volug was in wolf form, he'd stare at Ike for a long period of time, as if he were sizing him up for something. It definitely perplexed Ike, but since he didn't get a straight answer out of him the first time, he decided to drop it. Volug would tell him if anything was wrong anyway.

When Volug insisted on a sparring session one morning though, Ike got his answer, and things between them went even further.

* * *

Ike bit back a grunt of pain as Volug slammed into him, throwing the wolf off of him and hitting him with the broad side of Ragnell. He felt an odd satisfaction when he heard the wolf whimper a bit, but the laguz quickly recovered as he crouched low, looking ready to pounce anytime.

Briefly, he wondered how the sparring session went so awry. It had started out light, but then Volug had started to get a bit...rougher with his attacks. It wasn't as Ike didn't mind at all, because he loved the extra challenge, but at some point their spar turned into a battle of sorts, and neither of them were going to back down. He knew he had to ask Volug _why_ he was attacking him so fiercely, but that time wasn't now, because the wolf was running at him in preparation for another strike.

_I wonder what's gotten into him?_ he wondered to himself as Volug leaped at him again, this time his mouth open. It really felt like he was fighting seriously. Grunting a bit, he managed to push away Volug's mouth with his sword, causing the wolf to stumble a bit from being misdirected. He followed up with another strike with Ragnell, causing Volug to yelp and leap away after being hit. Ike smirked, but it didn't last long as the wolf shot into him again, and he groaned as one of his claws swiped his chest. While it wasn't enough to rip his shirt, the impact of it sent him stumbling back.

Volug then continued his assault, knowing that giving Ike an inch of room was all he needed to strike back. The beorc grunted as the wolf continued to scratch at him, his fangs extended as the wolf pressed his advantage over him. _Guess he really has learned a lot by sparring with me,_ Ike thought with a small amount of pride. _But if he thinks he'll get the better of me, he doesn't know what he's in for._ With a mighty heave, he sent the wolf careening back. Just as Volug was regaining his balance, Ike was already on him, brandishing Ragnell as he swung it at the wolf.

For some time, it continued this way. One of them would find a way to press their advantage for a while until their opponent countered, and then it would continue all over again. Whenever Ike would try and strike at the wolf, Volug would use his agility to dodge each blow. Whenever Volug tried to ram into him, Ike would hold him back using Ragnell and throw him back. It was fairly even for both of them, and for a while, neither of them would know how the match would turn out.

It ended when Volug stumbled at the last second during an assault, a slight injury that Ike had inflicted earlier making him pause. This was all Ike needed to slam Ragnell into his side, causing Volug to whimper again as he stumbled back. Ike remained in his stance, breathing hard as he stared at the wolf. _Is he down?_ he thought, continuing to stare at the wolf.

Finally, Volug got up as he turned to stare at Ike. For some reason, the beorc got the feeling that he didn't want to fight anymore. His suspicions were confirmed when Volug reverted to his beorc state, kneeling while panting heavily. "I submit," he gasped, bowing his head.

"Huh?" Ike responded, somewhat taken aback. He was just giving up?

The tanned man nodded. "Exactly as I said. I submit," he repeated, giving a small smile at the astounded beorc. "I can't win at the moment."

Ike blinked. "Er...okay," he let out, scratching his head as his arms slumped. That had been a rather exhausting sparring match. "Care to tell me what that whole thing was about?"

"Well..." Volug began, his tail swaying. "Can I...erm...can I tell you when we get to the inn?" he asked, looking nervous. Ike raised an eyebrow; it certainly wasn't like the wolf to look like that. "It's pretty important."

Ike shrugged. "Okay," he agreed, sighing. "Man, you've gotten really good. I haven't had a fight like that in a while."

"My sentiments exactly," Volug remarked with a nod, slightly limping himself. "A shame we don't do it more often."

"Maybe it's because I'd like to keep my arms intact?"

"And I'd like to keep my fur. That sword of yours keeps cutting off too much of it."

* * *

When they reached the inn that night, the soreness from the fight had nearly faded away, and Ike was ready for a good rest. Volug had been hitting him harder than he expected, and he rubbed at his chest gingerly. There was probably going to be a bruise there later. His attention was diverted when Volug entered the room, and his nervousness had been quite obvious to him.

He knew what was making the wolf nervous was the reason why he was so serious in their sparring match. He made sure not to ask Volug about it before now, because he knew that it would probably only make Volug's nerves worse than they were right now...which was saying quite a lot. But it had to be said sometime. "So...you said you were going to explain about earlier this morning?" Ike finally asked, raising an eyebrow.

Volug coughed a bit as he kicked off his sandals, frowning a bit. "Yeah...I suppose I should, huh? I mean, it also involves you, so it isn't fair to keep it from you," he sighed, sitting down on one of the beds while facing Ike. "I wonder how I'm going to start this..."

"Maybe the beginning?" Ike offered, getting a snort from the laguz.

"Fine," Volug acknowledged, crossing his arms. "Back in Hatari, we have this custom among the wolf laguz. It's fairly old, and from what Queen Nailah had said, it existed before the Great Flood," he started, his violet eyes not leaving Ike's gaze. "This custom is very special to us. It is meant to show the strength of the relationship and the bond between two partners."

Ike stared at Volug, having a vague idea of what Volug was getting at. "And you're saying we just did this 'custom' of yours?" he asked seriously, close to frowning. He would have liked Volug to have told him about it.

The wolf saw the frown forming on Ike's face and held up his hands to placate him. "I know, I know. I should have told you. I just got...nervous," he explained, getting a sigh from Ike. "Anyway...the custom also has both partners dueling each other. It's meant to show the deep respect they hold for each other by facing each other as equals on the battlefield. I just had the idea that if I told you, some part of you wouldn't have taken it seriously. I know that you don't like this sort of thing, after all."

The blue-haired man really did frown this time. "Volug, had you told me all of this beforehand, I definitely _would_ have taken it seriously," he protested, meeting Volug's unflinching gaze. "I respect your customs enough to do them, after all."

"But I'm not finished yet," Volug told him, getting Ike to pause. "The final part of the custom involves...um..." The laguz blushed a bit, trying to keep a straight face. "Ah...I can't describe it. It's a word in the ancient tongue that we use. I think there's something to describe it in the modern tongue, though."

"Okay..." Ike let out, having a very weird feeling on where the conversation was going to go. "What is it?"

Volug took a deep breath and mouthed something to Ike.

The beorc's eyes widened. "_Mating ritual_?" he asked in shock. "Are you serious?" When Volug nodded, he had to rub his forehead, suddenly feeling a bit woozy. "I can see why you didn't tell me beforehand," he remarked.

"When the two clash, the victor of the duel is acknowledged to be the dominant one in the relationship," Volug continued, the blush not leaving his face. "As such, everyone considers them to be mates from that point on. The dominant one is the one that everyone else address by name, and the other is acknowledged as their mate."

Ike blinked, taking all of that in. "So...you're saying it's almost like marriage," he remarked dazedly. "And that...you're my wife. Or husband. Or something."

"I wouldn't exactly put it that way," Volug pointed out, bristling at the very suggestion that he would be referred to as Ike's 'wife'. "It's viewed as an honor to be seen as a powerful warrior's mate. In fact, some wolves pride themselves on being mates instead of the dominant force. They know they were defeated by someone superior to them, and take no insult at losing. But, as you put it...it is somewhat like what you beorc call marriage."

Ike just stared at him for a few long moments. "And you did this without telling me," he remarked flatly.

Volug cringed. He knew he had messed up, and he knew Ike was certain to get angry about it, but it wasn't until he actually started to explain the whole thing that the full implications struck him. _I'm dead,_ he thought sullenly. "Yes," he replied, his nervousness coming back.

There was a long silence between them before Ike let out a sharp laugh, snickering madly. Volug stared at him in surprise, unsure on why the man was laughing.

"So...let me get this straight," Ike finally started as his calmed down. "Without knowing it, I just had this mating ritual with you this morning, and I won. And because of that, we're pretty much married in the eyes of your tribe, and you're going to be seen as the 'Mate of Ike', right?" When Volug nodded hesitantly, Ike chuckled again. "Wow. I wonder what Soren's going to say when I tell him that I got married to you without even knowing it. He'd probably say that I was dumb for not knowing about it beforehand. Mist will probably think I got drunk or something."

"You're...not angry?" Volug asked tentatively, somewhat in disbelief. This wasn't how he imagined Ike taking it.

"Well, a little bit," Ike shrugged, holding Volug's gaze within his own. "Even had you told me all that beforehand, I would have still gone through with it...although I think I would have needed a bit of thought on that first," he explained, smiling gently. "But I guess you've wanted to do that for a while, huh?"

"...yeah. I have," Volug answered, nodding. "I wanted to do this ritual months ago, but I couldn't work up the courage to do so. Now..."

Ike reached across and pulled Volug closer to him, holding the wolf in his arms. "It's fine. Had I known about it earlier, I would have taken your feelings into consideration," he said soothingly. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long."

Volug chuckled. "And I'm sorry for hiding it from you. Apologies accepted?" he asked, and he got a kiss in response to that.

Their kiss this time was just as slow as the previous times; full of gentleness and love, and a symbolization of their closeness. It had never gone beyond that,since neither of them actually had the inclination to take things further. But tonight, Ike felt a lot more adventurous with all that Volug told him. Perhaps it was the fact that he had won their little duel and was considered the dominant person, but it just felt like Volug had given him permission to do anything he wanted with him. However, he would very well stop if he felt the laguz was uncomfortable in whatever he was doing, not wanting to hurt the other man.

Absentmindedly, he trailed one hand through Volug's black hair, his fingers running across the wolf's ears and around the back of them. Volug audibly gasped at the sensation, Ike pausing in what he was doing to glance at him. "Ike...do...do that again," he managed, gulping. When the beorc's fingers trailed over them again, he could help but groan softly. He had never imagined someone else touching his ears and the places around them would feel so _good_.

Ike captured his lips again as his fingers rubbed lazily through Volug's hair, pleased at the small sounds coming out of the laguz's mouth. Feeling a bit more daring, he trailed one hand down to Volug's front, brushing a thumb over a nipple. The tanned man leaned into his touch with a slight gasp, throwing his arms around him as their kiss deepened. His tail was drooping, brushing against Ike's leg as if it were urging him to do more.

Encouraged by the sounds Volug was making, he teased one of nipples between two fingers, rolling the nub between them before brushing his thumb over it again. He could hear Volug's pleased moans into his ear, and it just kept urging him on. How would his companion...no, his lover, his _mate_ react to other things? The thought excited him as he licked at the laguz's jawline, trailing kisses down it.

Volug took a deep breath as he fisted the back of Ike's shirt. "Why are you the only one still dressed?" he murmured, tugging impatiently at the garment. Ike chuckled and conceded, pulling away briefly to shuck his shirt off, tossing it away from his body.

"Maybe it's because I'm the one actually wearing clothes," Ike teased, getting a playful scowl from the laguz as he drew Volug back into his arms. He let his hands wander down the tanned man's body, his fingers trailing over Volug's abs. He always admired how well-defined they always were, and feeling them underneath his fingers just drove home how built Volug was in his beorc form. As the laguz shuddered from his touch, he smirked. "I wonder how you keep your body like this."

"Shifting takes a lot more work than you think," Volug responded, taking in sharp breaths whenever Ike's hands brushed over certain places of his skin. Not wanting Ike to do all the work, he brought his own hands up to tease Ike's nipples, getting a pleased groan from the man as he rubbed over them with his thumbs. Looking thoughtful for a moment, Volug then slightly pulled away from the blue-haired man and lowered his head as he took a tentative lick at the nubs, and Ike moaned a bit louder, running his hands down the wolf's back. Volug decided he liked the sounds Ike was making and decided he wanted more as he started to suck at one of them, getting Ike to gasp.

As the laguz was teasing his nipple with his teeth, Ike groaned continuously as his hands wandered Volug's lower back until it reached the base of his tail. Hesitating, he gently ran his hand through the fur of the tail, rubbing the appendage lightly. When Volug gasped sharply and arched into him, he knew he had done something that the wolf liked. "Ike...!" he gasped, and the beorc continued to rub his tail.

"Very sensitive place?" Ike inquired, still running his fingers through the fur.

The laguz gulped and nodded. "_Very_," he answered back, unable to keep a moan from escaping his mouth as Ike drew him back into a kiss, this time slipping his tongue into his mouth. The wolf was unable to resist as Ike's tongue explored his mouth, and he could only moan in pleasure as Ike continued to gently stroke his tail.

When their hips grinded against each other, both of them gasped as they stared at each other. Volug was certainly hard; it was difficult not to be, consider all the stimulation Ike had been giving him. The beorc was in the same situation, having been turned on by the wolf's moans and actions. Swallowing a bit, Ike's blue eyes met with Volug's violet ones, a serious gaze in them. "Do you really want to do this?" he asked quietly. He didn't want to force the laguz into anything if he wasn't comfortable with it.

"You ask that at this time?" Volug snorted, but the blush on his cheeks told him everything. "Yeah. Keep going."

Ike needed no more confirmation as his hands lowered, immediately unhooking the cloth that wrapped around Volug's waist. As it fell to the floor, he started to slowly slide the wolf's pants off, taking care not to snag his tail. Volug shifted his tail carefully as Ike slid his pants off, sighing in relief as the garment finally fell to the floor. As Volug stepped away to kick them off his feet, Ike got a good look at his now-naked lover. "You really are beautiful," he murmured.

Volug paused, turning to stare at him. "You think so?" he asked, blinking slowly. Something about the way Ike said it made him feel warm inside. "You aren't too bad yourself, I'll have you know."

"Oh really?" Ike asked with a raised eyebrow, pulling Volug back over and closer to him. "I'm not bad, you say. I guess you have really high standards," he teased.

The laguz chuckled. "And you're the highest of them, too," he murmured as he pressed himself closer. He gasped as he felt Ike take his cock into his hand and massage it, lightly pumping it. Some sort of low whine came from his throat as Ike held him closer, panting as he felt his hips start to buck into the grip Ike had on him. _So good..._ he thought hazily, throwing his head back.

Ike felt himself harden even more as Volug reacted to his ministrations. He had absolutely no idea that such a thing would turn him on so much, yet right now..."Volug..." he whispered, his voice sounding a lot deeper than he was used to hearing. "I want you," he murmured huskily, the situation having overtaken his senses as his other hand went to his belt, quickly unfastening it.

Volug nodded, just as dazed. Everything was so _hot_, and he was so hard at that moment that he would do anything to get off. As Ike's belt came off, his own hands quickly lowered to unfasten the pants, pulling them off as Ike groaned, his own erection freed. Volug couldn't help but lick his lips as he stared at it; it was certainly big, and from the way Ike was looking at him, he imagined that he was very hard.

Ike then pulled Volug down to the bed with him, and they both gasped as their erections touched, this time without any clothing in the way. Volug hesitantly rocked his hips into Ike's, moaning as pleasure washed over him. Ike bucked his hips up to continue the motion, causing him to groan lowly as his erection twitched; it had felt a lot better than he ever thought it would.

For a short time, they continued to grind against each other as they kissed again, this time more sloppily and needy. At last, Ike stopped them as he grasped Volug's shoulders, looking out of breath as he tried to think of what to say. "Not like this," he finally gasped out, panting heavily. "Further. Let's go further."

It took a bit to register what Ike wanted, but when Volug finally did, he nodded. "Alright...do you have anything to make it easier?" he asked lowly.

Ike looked thoughtful for a second before he reached over and grabbed his satchel beside the bed, digging through it before he got out a small flask. "Salve for my hands for after training," he said, cutting off the laguz's question. "It's safe."

Volug nodded as he slowly rolled over, moving his tail so it wouldn't be crushed underneath him. Ike chuckled as he coated his fingers in the substance, looking up and down his lover's body. "You look way too hot for your own good right now," he remarked, trailing a finger down to Volug's entrance. "Far too hot."

"And you don't?" Volug bit back sarcastically before gasping, feeling the slick finger enter him. It definitely felt weird as he felt his insides clench down around it. There was pain, sure, but it was dulled when Ike gently rubbed his side with his free hand in a soothing gesture, and it somehow made him feel better.

As Ike added a second finger, he watched intently as his two digits were moving in and out of Volug's hole. Despite what people thought of him, he actually had an idea on how sex worked. His father had, albeit embarrassingly, explained it to him when he was younger, and Titania had explained it in further detail when she thought he had grown enough. Stories from various soldiers he had overheard during the war had managed to paint it in even greater detail, far beyond what either his father or Titania had told him. As for the male sex, the one he hadn't been informed of before, he had actually paid attention to what several drunk cat laguz were saying fairly loudly one night during the war, the feline laguz unable to keep their mouths shut after too much drink. It had been...very detailed, much to his embarrassment, and he managed to gather that it worked similar to one with a woman.

Only right now, as Volug arched and moaned in great pleasure from his fingers scissoring inside of him, it was far better than anything else in the world. It was all he could do to not shove himself into the wolf at that very moment, his cock aching horribly. Having just about enough, he pulled his fingers out and nearly dumped the rest of the salve over his erection, stroking quickly to slick it up. He nearly hissed as he forced his hand to squeeze tightly; he didn't want to come yet, after all.

Volug watched with a lecherous look, and it took all his willpower to keep his hand from his own aching erection, Finally, Ike decided that they were ready, but stopped as he spied the wolf's tail laying between Volug's legs. He didn't want to accidentally crush it under him, which would hurt his lover; no, there had to be another way...Smiling, he crawled to the head of the bed and sat up, leaning against the wall. "This will work better," he announced, motioning the wolf to come closer. "This way, I won't accidentally hurt you." Volug was confused until he saw Ike give a pointed glance at his tail, realizing what the beorc meant.

"Thanks," he whispered as he moved himself closer, taking in a sharp breath as Ike helped him up and over his erection. Volug knew exactly what Ike wanted, swallowing a bit. Lifting his tail, he slowly lowered himself until he felt Ike's head at his entrance, pushing roughly until it slid in. The sudden burst of pain was staggering, but he grit his teeth as he stilled, refusing to let the pain stop him.

Ike watched Volug's expression carefully, looking concerned. He had heard about how much it would hurt the first time, and he was unable to grasp what the wolf might be feeling. "Are you okay?" he asked with a worried tone, biting his lip.

"I'm fine," Volug grunted, taking a deep breath. Ike definitely was bigger than he expected, but he could take it. "Just give me some time."

The blue-haired man nodded, willing himself not to thrust up into the tight heat. It felt so _good_ around his erection, but he couldn't very well continue if it caused Volug pain. He'd rather hurt himself than to do that. Finally, after a few minutes, Volug finally lowered himself until he had taken all of Ike within him, sighing in relief. Ike threw his head back and took a sharp intake of breath, the feeling almost overpowering.

Slowly, Volug began to move back up, almost whimpering at not feeling Ike within him. The beorc gripped the wolf's hips to steady him before helping him descend on his erection again, groaning in pleasure as the heat settled around him again. Managing to settle into a slight rhythm, Volug allowed Ike's hands to guide him back up before he thrust back down, picking up speed with each thrust.

It was only when something inside the wolf was hit that he nearly howled in pleasure, spots dancing in his eyes. "Ike!" he moaned, the feeling of the beorc deep within him making him moan. It was just too much, and the feelings it was invoking almost made him lose himself in the pleasure alone. He didn't care about pride or anything else at that moment; all he wanted was the man in front of him to continue to make him feel like this.

Ike moaned as well, gritting his teeth as he continued to impale Volug on his erection. The tight heat around it was becoming too much, and the thought of holding out longer was ludicrous to him. "Oh goddess...Volug," he moaned, throwing his head back. It was just _too_ good, and the way Volug was looking at him...the way he wanted more from him made him shudder. "Volug...!"

The wolf's tail was brushing against his legs, and somehow, it made everything seem more intense. Unable to keep his thoughts straight, one of his hands went straight for Volug's erection, grasping it and pumping it quickly.

That was all Volug could take. Between Ike hitting that spot within him to how careful he had been with him, the attention on his cock was too much. "I...Ike!" he sputtered, crying out as his orgasm hit him. He came all over Ike's hand and chest, his vision going white as he spurt all over his lover's front.

As Volug clenched down around him and looked so breathless as he came, Ike found his own climax happening, shooting up into Volug before he could even say anything. As he spilled within the wolf, he pulled the semi-conscious wolf down and bit lightly at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, getting another low moan from the laguz. At last, when he had fully emptied his load within Volug, he collapsed on the bed, tired beyond anything. Breathing heavily, he helped the laguz off of his softening cock, not paying any mind to anything that leaked out of his lover's hole as it spilled upon the bed.

"Love you," Ike breathed, pulling Volug with him under the covers. That had been the best experience of his life, and he was truly grateful to whoever led him to the person next to him. "Love you so much..."

Volug caught his breath as he heard the declaration of love, the first time they had actually voiced it. "I love you with everything I have," he found himself saying, not even bothering to hide what he truly felt. "You're everything to me."

They said no more as they curled up together, their exhaustion finally catching up with them as they slept soundly.

* * *

The next morning, sunlight shone in through their window as the sun rose into the sky, shining down upon them as they laid in bed.

Ike groaned lightly as his eyes fluttered, finally opening them as the sunlight came into contact with his face. Wincing, he shielded his eyes for a moment as the events of last night began replaying in his head. The spar that had ended up being a mating ritual, the confession, and then...Ike blushed. _I don't think I'm ready for a second round yet,_ he thought in embarrassment, last night having taken a lot out of him. Still, it felt incredibly wonderful, and to experience that with Volug...

Speaking of the wolf, Ike looked over to see the wolf curled up next to him in his beorc form, which amazed Ike. Volug _always_ slept in his wolf form, sleeping at the edge of the bed whenever they slept in an inn. But right now, there was a content smile on the tanned man's face, his ears flat against his skull and his tail poking out of the covers. Unable to keep from smiling himself, Ike slowly tousled the laguz's hair, getting a slight groan from Volug. "Hey, Volug. You awake?"

The laguz struggled to open his eyes for a few moments before they opened, blinking slowly. "Ike?" he whispered as he sat up, throwing the covers off of him. Ike blushed again as he saw Volug's exposed front, as well as the mess from the night before. Volug followed his gaze and blushed as well, taking a deep breath. "We...we just mated, didn't we?"

"I'd say so, or were we just having sex last night for no reason?" Ike asked sarcastically, getting a chuckle from the wolf. "Volug...that was wonderful. I can't explain how it felt last night."

The wolf cocked his head. "Like we were connected? More than physically, of course," he added quickly, seeing the blush deepen on Ike's face. "I felt it too. It made me feel like this is the best thing I could have ever decided to do in my life," he sighed happily, offering a smile at the beorc.

Ike smiled. "Yeah. For that last few months...I've been the happiest with you," he admitted, staring into Volug's eyes, which shone with an inner sincerity. "With what you told me last night, it made me feel all the more connected to you. I'm happy to have you as my mate."

Volug raised an eyebrow. "I believe that's my line," he said dryly, getting a chuckle from Ike. "You know how I was talking about how it was an honor to some to be a mate to a powerful warrior? Well...I believe I've been granted the highest honor of them all," he said with an honest smile. "I'm the mate to the savior of Tellius, and the one who taught me so many things."

Ike didn't say anything, drawing the wolf into his arms and kissing him gently, rubbing his hands down his back. "I love you, Volug."

"_**And I love you, Ike,**_" Volug responded, pressing his forehead against Ike's. Now that they actually said it, it felt like they were connected in a way he had never thought possible. And he wouldn't give it up for anything.

For a long while, they just laid in bed as they stared at the ceiling, needing no words to convey. Just like before, they knew how the other felt, only this time, it was far more personal. "Hey, Volug?" Ike suddenly asked, looking over at the wolf.

"Yeah?"

"I thought you didn't like laying in a bed like this. You said it was uncomfortable," Ike mentioned, holding the wolf's hand in his.

Volug shrugged, giving Ike a smile. "Before, probably. But now..." He then moved closer to Ike, snuggling his chest. "I found it feels much better like this. So much better."

Ike grinned. "You know what? You're right," he mentioned, stroking Volug's hair. "It does feel a lot better like this."

And from thereon, every morning Ike would wake up with Volug laying right next to him, his arms around the tanned man. It was probably the best thing he could ever wake up to.

* * *

As the months passed, Ike smiled as he looked at the clear sky. So many things had happened in the past few years. He had traveled to Hatari and learned the ancient language, he taught Volug the modern tongue, and then the two left together for a journey to an unknown continent. Along the way, their bond strengthened and turned into true love, and he could never remember a time where he was happier being around the wolf. After that, they seemed to have been mired in many adventures, each one testing their strength and their bond, but they overcame them. In fact, it only made their connection that much stronger.

Having seen enough of Elysius, and having finally convinced whatever kingdoms there were to send a messenger of peace to Begnion, Ike felt he was ready to return home to everyone. He wondered how many things had changed back on Tellius, and if any new lands had been discovered while he had been away. It would certainly bear looking into.

"What do you think about paying all our old friends a visit?" he asked Volug as they traveled along the path, looking over at his companion. Volug had changed a lot since their first meeting; he was no longer looked so guarded around him, and the smiles he gave to him made him feel happy. And while the laguz was a bit overprotective of him at times--especially in battle--it was just a testament to how deeply he felt about him.

"That sounds nice," the wolf agreed, walking closer to Ike. "I wonder if my Queen migrated the inhabitants of Hatari yet."

"Probably not yet, but she'll be able to do it," Ike remarked, raking a hand through his blue hair. "I wonder how everyone else is doing. Hope the peace is doing good for them."

Volug shrugged. "I'm sure it is. Besides, I'm sure everyone around the continent has calmed down now that you disappeared from sight."

"I sure hope so. I hate being looked upon as some sort of saint," the beorc muttered, prompting a laugh from the wolf. "But...you know what? I just thought of something."

"Oh?" Volug asked while raising an eyebrow. "I sure hope this isn't anything like what you thought of while we were in that kingdom."

Ike shook his head, a light blush on his cheeks. "Of course not! Besides, I'm not the one who moaned loud enough to attract the guards," he pointed out, Volug's face flushing crimson. "Anyway! Since it's probably calmed down...I was thinking that being a mercenary again for a short while would be great. What do you think?"

Volug looked thoughtful. If there was one thing that Ike held a special place in his heart for, it was being a mercenary. "I think that sounds pretty good," he remarked, a smirk on his features. "Although they'll have to hire another one in tow."

"Heh. Think you can pass the test? It's pretty hard," Ike mockingly warned, his own smirk matching Volug's.

"I can pass _any_ test," Volug stressed, taking Ike's hand within his own. "There's no obstacle too great, remember?"

"Indeed," Ike sighed happily. The past few months had been wonderful indeed. "Although Shinon will probably want to skewer you."

"That sniper? Oh, I'll just eat his bow. No big deal."

"In that case, I'm more than sure that you'd be invited to join us," Ike laughed, putting his arm around Volug's shoulder. "But even if you weren't...I'd still be with you."

Volug smiled. "I know. I'll be with you too."

Ike then claimed his lips in a kiss, gazing deep into those violet eyes. "_**My mate,**_" he whispered into Volug's ear, having remembered all the times he had the wolf tell him about the customs of the wolves.

"_**My lover,**_" Volug replied back, gazing back into Ike's blue eyes. "_**I am yours forever.**_"

"_**And I am yours as well,**_" Ike breathed back, taking Volug's lips once more.

What had begun as his calling in life being destroyed ended up turning into something that he wouldn't give up for anything. And heaven help those that would get between them.

* * *

**Final note:** And that's the end of this fic. I had fun writing this, and I thank SRG for betaing for me. She made a lot of improvements that I wouldn't have thought of.

I accept any type of review, so if you have something to say, whether it is concrit or not, I'll appreciate it.


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